Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
4)The crisis in India’s higher education system has only deepened with time. Analyse in the light of various ills plaguing our higher education system.(250 words)
Why this question
Education is a critical indicator of human development and an important issue for policymakers and academics alike. Indian education including the higher education is in poor form as can be assessed from our performance in world rankings. There are demands for various reforms and the government has taken several initiatives to address the issue, including the present decision to provide more autonomy to more than 60 institutions of eminence. However the malaise affecting the higher education in India is much worse than to be solved by band-aid solutions. The issue is related to GS-2 syllabus under the following heading-
Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Key demand of the question.
the question wants us to highlight and briefly describe all the major problems affecting India’s higher education. We have to trace the historical evolution of India’s higher education sector and analyse how the problem has worsened with time despite many attempts to reform it.
Directive word
Analyse- we have to look into the key aspects of the question (crisis has deepened with time and ills plaguing India’s higher education) and discuss in detail about them. We have to provide justifications and examples wherever required.
Structure of the answer
introduction- Mention the change in higher education sought before independence, and the priorities and vision of the newly independent India.
Body- Discuss in points about the various problems plaguing India’s higher education ( e.g Lack of quality, adhocism, erosion of autonomy, unnecessary bureaucratization and politicization,stress on exam process, grading, rot learning, employability etc.) and highlight how the problem has worsened over time ( dilution of aims and values of higher education, over-regulation with time, adhocism, budget cuts, erosion of vital institutes or their autonomy, wrong direction of reform like rating universities/ institutes among themselves and ignoring the larger problem).
Conclusion- based on the above discussion, form a clear, fair and balanced opinion and present it as your conclusion. Also highlight the need for major reforms in India’s higher education
