Greetings from India

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Greetings from India
2
WIDENING PARTICIPATION QUESTION OF INCLUSION IN
INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

• Prof. Nishi Pandey
• Director
• UGC Academic Staff College
• University of Lucknow
• India

3
Historical Background

• Takshila, Nalanda and Vikramshila were the
  earliest centres of Higher learning in ancient
  India during 6th century B.C. and 4th 5th
  centuries A.D.
• Traditional system recognized four vidyas
• The three Vedas
• Investigative Logic and Metaphysics
• Science of Governance as dandaniti
• Practical arts as agriculture medicine
• commerce.

4
Reality Check Contemporary India

• Concerns related to issues of
• served and unserved geographical areas
• caste
• language
• gender
• formal and informal education
• fair chances for life long learning
• a national commitment to a human rights based
  approach to development
• 
  
  contd.

5
Reality Check Contemporary India

Contd.

• India has a formal system of education which
  produces according to some the largest trained
  man power.
• Relevant age group 18-25 years
• Access to Higher Education
• India-6.9
• United States of America - 59
• Benefits of the education system,
• appropriated by well to do classes
  to strengthen and
• perpetuate their privileges.

6
University Grants Commission Policy Framework
Comments

• Educational system - dominated by models and
  value systems adopted during colonial regime.
• Emphasis on
• narrow individualism,
• unhealthy competition to the neglect of social
  good,
• verbal fluency
• mere acquisition of information,
• neglect of objectives, cooperation, manual work,
  training in skills and character building.
• 
  contd.

7
University Grants Commission Policy Framework
Comments
Contd.

• System has promoted and maintained double
  standards in education.
• small minority of educational institutions of
  high quality- selective basis of admission
  --availed by the top social groups.
• Large number of institutions which impose no such
  restrictions do not have any standards worth
  speaking about.
• Formal system of education has expanded
  enormously
• upper and middle classes are the principle
  beneficiaries.
• 60 of the population (10 years and over) still
  illiterate
• does not receive its benefits.
• 
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  contd.

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University Grants Commission Policy Framework
Comments
Contd.

• Of every 100 children of 6 years of age
• 20 never go to schools,
• 55 dropout at an early age
• 25 reach class VIII.
• 70 percent of the seats in secondary schools and
  86 of the seats in Higher Education are taken by
  top 30 of the income groups.
• Through several pre- independence and post-
  independence policy recommendations and
  initiatives India has repeated its commitment to
  a universal, free and compulsory education at
  primary levels.
• Initiated in 1910 universal, free and compulsory
  education at
• primary levels is yet to be passed
  as a bill by the
• Parliament

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Issues to Rejoice

• There has been significant expansion in the
  number of educational institutions at all levels,
  especially in Primary Education under the
  District Primary Education Programme and Sarva
  Siksha Abhiyan (Education for all).
• The rate at which women's literacy is increasing
  is heartening- it is now 15 higher than that of
  men.
• Gender gap at the level of enrollment in grade 1
  has
• been rendered almost
  insignificant.
• 
  
• 
  contd.

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Issues to Rejoice
Contd.

• 1857- 3 universities- Bombay, Calcutta and Madras
  
• 1947-20 universities.
• 2008- over 300 universities ,15000 colleges
  enrolling 95 lac students
• Till 2013 -- In the next five years 1100 Higher
  Education centers ( IITs , IIMs , Universities
  and Colleges) will be added.
• The Indira Gandhi National Open University is the
  world's largest Open University providing
  opportunity for life long learning.
• More Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST),
  Other Backward Class (OBC) , Minority and Girl
  representation at all levels of education has
  been ensured due to consistent, systematic,
  structural advocacy and financial support.

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Strategic Concerns for Inclusion / Widening
Participation

• A social revolution is necessary for bringing
  about a genuine change along with a political
  revolution. --Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar
• The patriarchal Indian society is still divided
  on Caste, Region and Linguistic lines which
  require constant correction.
• Gender bias flourishes at all levels. (eg. in a
  recent study of 101 universities only 6 had women
  in important administrative positions . The
  University of the country's capital has an
  abysmally low number of women as Professors).
• The country's Constitution and its education
  policy clearly commit itself to the creation of
  an egalitarian society involving removal of all
  obstacles in its path, structural or attitudinal.
  
• Constant efforts are made to remove
  bias from text
• books, training and pedagogy
  especially at formative
• levels.
• 
  contd.

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Strategic Concerns for Inclusion / Widening
Participation
Contd.

• State efforts to encourage inclusion have
  consisted in advocating and providing
• Free and compulsory education at Primary level.
• Scholarships for the poor, minority communities
  (Christian, Muslim etc.) SC, ST, OBC groups at
  all levels.
• Free text books and uniforms at primary level for
  marginal groups.
• No tuition fees for girls at all levels of
  Education in certain states.
• Opening of State run schools and generous grants
  to schools including madarsas (traditional
  Islamic Schools of learning.)
• 
  
• 
  contd.

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Strategic Concerns for Inclusion / Widening
Participation
Contd

• Reservation of seats in institutions of Higher
  Education (eg.University of Lucknow has 50
  reservation of seats for them)
• Stepping up of Vocational training courses with
  subsidies.
• Establishing National Open School and National
  Open University for flexible life long learning.
• Reservation in Teacher Training Colleges to
  ensure representation of marginal groups.
• Autonomy to minority institutions with special
  packages for modernization.
• Kanya Vidya Dhan Scheme (Cash money to families
  for education of the girl child)
• Providing Girls Hostels in all schools
  and colleges and setting
• up Residential schools like Kasturba
  Gandhi Vidyalaya for
• poor girls.

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Widening participation Challenges

• Large number of students in Higher Education are
  first generation learners
• Large number of students are non urban coming
  from semi urban and completely rural areas.
• There is only one rural university in India-
  Vishwa Bharati, Shantiniketan.
• Poor Primary Education and Secondary Education,
  with over permissive evaluation has brought a
  large number of students in Higher Education
  whose basic competencies in Languages Mathematics
  and Sciences have not been developed ,
• Teachers of Higher Education end up
  doing a lot
• of compensatory/ Remedial
  Teaching thereby
• quality is compromised.
• 
  
  contd.

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Widening participation Challenges
Contd.

• Employment of graduates is a major challenge.
• Market research and man power planning based on
  requirements of the future is episodic and non
  comprehensive.
• Higher education, Technical education and Skill
  training are confused leading to confusions in
  policy making and funding.
• Higher education is necessary to create
  analytical, responsible and socially conscious
  citizens it is not to be reduced to skill
  transfer for income generation.
• When issues of inclusion are being
  addressed for the
• historically marginalized-
  intellectuals, policy-makers,
• bureaucrats often fall into the
  trap of thinking on caste
• lines and make policies which
  freezes cultural hierarchy.

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What We Need To Do Road Map for the Future

• Develop campus diversity programmes
• Groups of 100 students to meet regularly and
  introduce to each other their personal cultural
  experiences
• Teachers to develop modules responsive to
  different needs without compromising on quality
  but using innovation.
• Create and utilize technology for interactions
  Video tapes and other open education resources.
• Introduce foundation courses for all students
  focusing specially on histories of social
  exclusion globally.
• Student feed back on teachers must specially
  record student's presentation of teachers as
  being partisan, biased or fair-minded.
• Teacher training to prepare teachers to handle
  diversity in class rooms.
• Create spaces of interaction
  which are exclusive for some groups
• but ready to interact with other
  groups.
• 
  
  
• 
  contd.

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What We Need To Do Road Map for the Future
Contd.

• Develop a Public Private Partnership Fund (PPPF)
  to support students with special requirements in
  terms of academics.
• Regularly document and display achievements of
  persons from marginal/different backgrounds to
  break stereotypes.
• Develop Community Colleges where some of the
  special needs are fulfilled and remedial teaching
  done before entering the main centers of Higher
  Education.
• Create virtual classrooms using international
  information pathways.
• Create more open flexible cafeteria approach so
  that the ones who are freshly included have
  greater choice.
• Revamp courses to match international benchmarks.
• Create networks of universities
  with other institutions for a
• more hands on education.
• 
  
  contd.

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What We Need To Do Road Map for the Future
Contd.

• Special focus on teacher training focussing on
  knowledge, attitude and skills required to deal
  with diversity and historical disadvantage.
• Creation of more research based study material on
  global experience inclusion and exclusion.
• Gender is a major challenge, besides Women
  Studies we need more study on masculinities and
  its stress. Inclusive education requires,
  research and teaching on gender issues on a much
  larger scale.
• Carefully avoid patronizing and reverse
  discrimination in policy and
• planning.
• 
  contd.
• 
  
  
• 
  

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• India's record in including the marginal has been
  steady and fairly non-violent in the post
  Independence years but affirmative action and
  reservation have met with some very violent
  outbursts which require sympathetic and careful
  response.

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• Thank you

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