The importance of reform in higher education in India

India’s current Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), according to the All India Survey of Higher Education for 2023-24 is 30%. What we require is a transformation in university and college education. Higher education should be available to every student who leaves school.

This requires building on existing infrastructure and changing campuses into centres of free-thinking and creativity. As of June 2025, India had 1,338 Universities (Central, state and private), 52,081 colleges, and around 165 Institutes of National Importance.

While the teacher: student ratio is 1:26, close to 30% of teaching positions in central universities and institutions such as the IITs and NITs remain vacant. Education receives just about 4% of the allocation in the GDP and allocation for research is around 0.66%.

Academic institutions barely get any money for research. In contrast, countries like China, the U.S., and the U.K. spend a much higher percentage of their GDP on research. Apart from increasing the budgetary expenditure on education and research, there are other changes that need to be brought in.

The current practice of centralised entrance exams for professional courses is problematic. These can be decentralised, and the basis of admission can be the results of the board exams and an aptitude test held by the institution.

For admission to prestigious institutions, a zonal aptitude test can be held, but with significant weightage given to board exam results. Provision must be made for students from deprived and marginalised backgrounds. The centralised entrance exams have led to the expansion of expensive coaching centres and unnecessary stress for students.

Of late, the issue of paper leaks has been a talking point. In the last five years, 60 major exams have been cancelled due to question papers being leaked. Students and teachers are the core of education. They deserve full freedom and respect and must be represented in executive and academic councils.

The performance of the VCs and principals can be assessed annually with participation from teachers and students. Faculty appointments must take into account recommendations from the department. Curbs in free thinking need to be removed and open discussions on national and international issues should be encouraged.

Sectarianism should not have a place on campuses. Course modernisation should be conducted in consultation with teachers and feedback from students. Students from all streams should have access to technical courses and the government should provide support for this.

Research should be encouraged and students should be given access to journals and publications. Evaluations and assessment practices should be transparent. There is a great difference in the cost of education between government and private institutions and in the education offered.

There must be an attempt to create a level playing field, where there is not much difference between institutions. Elite institutions and national labs should support other institutions to strengthen their teaching and research.

Increasing the number of fellowships offered by the UGC, CSIR, and other bodies would help, as would ensuring that every university has a specific quota allocated to it. With industry-academia collaborations on the rise, the former can be encouraged to use CSR allocations to fund research in higher education institutions.

The author is a retired professor of Physics from IIT-Delhi.