During the past three decades, the importance attributed by governments and international agencies to investment in basis education has changed profoundly.
During the 1960s and 1970s, primary education was given far less emphasis in national economic plans and aid documents than was accorded to the higher levels of educations, which were judged to be the central means of producing the skilled manpower needed to achieve rapid economic growth in the counties of South.
There have been changes in the education policy in India since independence after every two decades. Importing foreign universities would not help in improving the education system. In India itself, there are a number of institutions imparting quality education and students must give up their craze for foreign lands.
It is the parents who are also aspirants to send their wards to abroad. The motive behind going abroad is not to get higher education but to make arrangements for permanent settlement with one or the other means. In fact, the education has become a business and not a mission to gain knowledge and skill.
Keeping in view the un-employment conditions in India in view of rapid growth of population in India, there is a need to introduce job-oriented courses. I recollect the words of our first Prime Minister Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru, who used to say to de-link degrees from jobs and produce more skilled worker. The skilled workers are in actual demand in the market and more so, one engineer or executive can look after the work of hundred skilled workers.
Reforming in higher education is always a positive step but it should not be limited by its political approach of using control as the way of ensuring quality rather than transparency. I would suggest that we must bring change in our education policy with required infra-structure, to cope with the challenge of education of actual demand first for India and then for the global market.
