The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in India going into an unprecedented nationwide lockdown in the months of March and April 2020. The effect of the pandemic is being felt across all aspects of the economy with GDP growth falling to as low as 2.5% in the calendar year. The Indian government has responded to this by providing several guidelines including restricting the movement of people and social distancing.
University Grants Commission (UGC) and other apex education bodies also issued COVID-19 specific guidelines for Indian higher education institutions (HEIs) resulting in temporarily closing, students being asked to go home, and efforts being undertaken to move classes online. These measures will have varying degrees of impact on ~3.75 crore students enrolled in and ~14 lakh faculty employed by the system.
Higher education leaders are also concerned that an extended lockdown due to the pandemic could have a deeper impact on the sector, as COVID-19 has disrupted the admissions cycle and might have an effect on enrolments; creating a cash flow crunch, slowing down research and consulting activities.
This year, close to 1.44 crore students are appearing for their school-leaving exams, and close to 50 lakhs of these students will be looking to enroll in a higher education institution in this academic session.
Institutions planning for their admissions cycle will need to muster their limited resources, have an agile response plan to COVID-19, and build resilience to minimize the impact on their enrolments, diversity of students, and revenues.
Todays rapidly growing economies depend on the creation, acquisition, distribution, and use of knowledge and this requires a well-educated and highly skilled population. The various report says that India has the potential to become the second-largest economy in the world by 2050 in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms (third in Market Exchange Rate (MER) terms), although this requires a sustained developmental program in the existing educational system. Education plays a key articulating role between nation and economic growth. No country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital. Education enriches peoples understanding of themselves and the world. It improves the quality of their lives and leads to broad social benefits to individuals and society. Indeed, investing in education helps to achieve a sustainable economic growth of a nation.
Generally, funding of education mainly comes from the government, with a smaller role for non-educational private sources (including for example households, enterprises, non-profit organizations, and religious institutions) and generally an even smaller role for international organizations.
But education budgets are limited, especially in times of economic downswing. The government spends on education per student for top 10 countries are given in the table. In India, the total public expenditure per year on each student in a government school could range from INR12,000 (US$160, US$ = INR 75.00) per student at the elementary level to INR16,000 (US$213.33, US$ = INR 75.00) at the secondary and higher secondary level. Although the budgetary allocation to the education sector rises every year, it is still inadequate for ensuring quality education. It is because a large portion of the education budget is spent on non-developmental purposes. Besides, the ministry had to pay salaries, allowances, and pensions to its officials and carry out repair and maintenance works. This economic burden is widening the gap between innovative education and skills development to meet the skilled manpower demand in India.
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
(RE to BE)
Expenditure on education by the centre and the states as a proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been around 3% between 2014-15 to 2018-19. Out of this figure, roughly 1% is spent on higher education in India.
The COVID-19 scare is giving sleepless nights to students who were to appear in entrance exams like JEE for B. Tech. admissions and/ or to class 12 students appearing for Board exams. KCET, GUJCET & MHT CET (supposed to be conducted in April) were postponed by few months. CBSE has also postponed its exams. It is not incorrect to assume that we will soon see many other organisations follow suit and a whole lot of entrance exams in India be further postponed due to Coronavirus. Looking at the state of affairs, it is a matter of concern what the impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) will have on the higher education system in India.
The rate at which Coronavirus has spread to different regions in India has forced the central and state governments to shut down educational institutions and schools as a precautionary measure resulting in the disruption of studies. This problem is prevalent everywhere. In a well-thought-through move by almost 10 US organizations to the Federal Government, they said, While closing campuses or moving entirely to remote instruction have been necessary steps in slowing the spread of the virus among students and staff, these shifts have caused massive disruption to students, institutional operations and institutional finances. The substantial financial impacts on colleges and universities will ripple through local communities, the group said, given the wide economic role higher education plays in much of the country. Similarly, in India, unless contingency measures are undertaken, students looking for admissions could face hard times.
While academic experts are pushing for online models of education even beyond pandemic be it classroom teaching or tutorials, we are yet to see how effectively a nation that primarily relies on an offline mode of teaching can seamlessly transgress to an online medium of teaching and education. So, the question is, will the Coronavirus Pandemic result in a new solution for education and innovation?
Given the digital gap in India, how successful will the digital education model be in a country like ours? Will India be able to embrace learning anywhere, anytime? Will it lead to innovation in the field of education? Or will it fall flat on the face for the lack of a more agile infrastructural setup?
The conventional Indian education system follows face-to-face or physical teaching, even though the trend of audio-visual aids in classrooms was introduced a decade ago. Renowned universities in India such as the University of Delhi are offering online classes to their students already. But many higher education institutes in India are not equipped with such facilities. In the event of such a gap, some students might face the brunt brutally.
In a survey by Times Higher Education in 2018, the leaders of well-known global universities were of the opinion that online teaching could never match with physical room teaching. When we talk about how equipped Indian Higher Education System is to handle the change, we need to keep in mind that the digital shift in India is relatively new. This is not only true for India but for Asia as well. One may be amazed to know that the first Asian Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was developed by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in the year 2012 only.
Indian Colleges will need time to handle the change and be open to the new methods as the approach of the education system here is a lecture-based approach to teaching. Digital teaching is more evident in schools and the school students/ teachers/parents are more comfortable with this approach when compared to higher education set-up in India. In the event of COVID-19, online teaching has become a necessity, for not only colleges in India but worldwide to look for innovative solutions in a short period of time and to always have a Plan-B in place.
With board exams, university exams, college exams, the entrance test being postponed, it is a big challenge for colleges to complete their syllabus on time without compromising on the education quality. From delay in board exams to college being shutdown to delay in national level entrance tests, it is the academic year of the students that is compromised. As already discussed, JEE Main which is the ticket to engineering education in India has already been postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak &willhad led to a delay in the start of academic sessions for most of the engineering colleges, and most of the other colleges have witnessed a delay as well.
A large chunk of Indias admission system is fractured and most of the students in India rely on the offline process for admissions. It is a known fact that most people in the country do not have access to high-speed Wi-Fi and most of the students in small cities/towns/ villages prefer the offline admission process.
While it is a still grey area, platforms like ours have provisions to facilitate remote applications to colleges in India for their UG & PG. A platform called the Common Application Form or CAF, wherein students can fill up a single application form to apply to more than 250+ colleges in India at one go!
In a country like China that practices a much more centralized education system, a switch to digital learning could be easier. Whereas, even in a country like the U.S.A, where there are many low-income students who do not have access to broadband and laptops, digital learning might not be the ideal solution. The same is the case with India. Not every student here is tech-savvy or has access to the high-speed internet and will therefore suffer. When classes commenced online, many students suffered because of their inability to bear the cost. Unless India makes internet available to all, there are chances that the gap in education quality may widen.
Given that the traditional focus has been on offline centers of education, we believe a mix of online and offline is what will work in the coming years, which then hopefully be converted into a permanent mode of education. COVID-19 has impacted higher education in India but what it has taught us is to build resilience to face such threats in the future. The outbreak of Coronavirus has reminded us that one should be prepared to handle unexpected situations.
In the wake of the lockdown to prevent COVID-19 pandemic from community spread, everything including schools are closed. In fact, they closed a week before the lockdown. Adopting novel ways to continue with the learning process, schools are using technology to the optimum to keep the students engaged at home so they may learn constructive things.
The task of providing better educational facilities to support the goal of providing universal access to education is very great. The approaches required to make sustainable progress are increasingly clear, but implementation challenges remain considerable. The government needs to develop a holistic and long-term strategy for operating and maintaining their physical assets that may represent as a tool to meet maximum operational cost, increase utility and increase lifetime value.
The Secured Governance Strategic Infrastructure design has been providing a roadmap to steer governments and private operators to comprehensive framework and actionable best practice that help to reduce the maintenance cost of physical assets. Mostly educational institutes are situated in the affluent and ideal areas of the nation. As we know the development of social and economic infrastructures like schools and hospitals are all essential to create places where people want to live and can reach their full potential. One may observe that certain type of public infrastructure such as schools, colleges and universities are capturing some of the additional value as it heightens the adjacent property value. Those who operate a business near the educational institutes, potentially benefit from the flow of people approaching or leaving the schools and institutes. The concept suggests that if government provides additional FSI to those institutes it can generate enough revenue through the school-based commercial activities in their premises. But it is important that these activities should be relevant and add educational value to teaching and learning. They should not interfere with the educational system at any cost. Given that the concept of school based commercial involvement in education, particularly in non-vocational ways, is a relatively new area of policy making for governments, the evidence base is still being developed. It is gradually being built up as education, commercial activities, community groups and governments increasingly recognise the benefits that can come from collaborative approaches to improving educational outcomes.
Secured governance for Education has major characteristics like participation, rule of law, transparency, and responsiveness, at each stage of its operations and in developing a robust education system in the country with improved resource allocation and enhanced governance.
Education HUB planned to use Secured Governance growth model will benefit students, attract foreign investment, retain local students, build a regional reputation by providing access to high-quality education and training for both international and domestic student, and create a knowledge-based economy. An education hub can include different combinations of domestic/international institutions, branch campuses, and foreign partnerships, within the hub. When education thrives, higher productivity and faster economic growth become a norm. Investment in education under Secured Governance methodology will give a big boost to the Indian economy.
Secured governance for Education has major characteristics like participation, rule of law, transparency, and responsiveness at each stage of its operations and in developing a robust education system in the country. With improved resource allocation, enhanced governance, interdependency among sectors, and transparency in the system going hand in hand with development and effective use of Information Technology and Innovation can deliver a safer, cleaner, and more accountable delivery of self-sustaining Education infrastructure and services. A secured governance will establish a vibrant institutional framework in the educational system. India could capture a greater global opportunity in technology and other knowledge-intensive fields.
By,Dr. P. Sekhar, Chairman,Unleashing India Global Smart City Panel & MTGF
By,Prof Raghunath Shevgaonkar,Eminent Educationist, Former VC,Pune University,Ex-Director IIT D,Prof Emirates IIT B.
Summary
Article Name
Post covid devastation strategic role for Higher Education for Techno-Economic Growth for Global Reincarnation through Smart and Secured Governance
Description
University Grants Commission (UGC) and other apex education bodies also issued COVID-19 specific guidelines for Indian higher education institutions (HEIs) resulting in temporarily closing, students being asked to go home, and efforts being undertaken to move classes online.
Author
TPT News Bureau
Publisher Name
THE POLICY TIMES
Publisher Logo
See the original post here:
- QazInnovations: Kazakhstan seeks to bring volume of innovative ... - inform.kz/en - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- World Earth Day: What is green finance, and why do we need it so much? - The Economic Times - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Netarts Bay cleanup scheduled for Earth Day with SOLVE and ... - Tillamook Headlight-Herald - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Shaping humanitarian and ethical governance in Pakistan - The Express Tribune - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen on the U.S. ... - Treasury - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Investing in nature: Building local economies through conservation - McKinsey - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Lalith's economic vision for Lanka: Export or perish - The Sunday Times Sri Lanka - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy to help A.P. govt. implement energy-efficiency projects - The Hindu - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and ... - The White House - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- A Restraint Approach to U.S.China Relations: Reversing the Slide ... - Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Carrollton Mayor and City Council Election Preview 2023: Meet your ... - Star Local Media - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Governor Kelly Signs Bipartisan Bill to Expand Teacher Workforce in ... - Kansas Governor - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Indigenous Peoples Must Have Full Representation, Participation in ... - United Nations - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- The EPA Region 6 Announces a Total of $23 Million to ... - U.S. EPA.gov - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Kansas governor strikes funding for anti-abortion pregnancy centers ... - Kansas Reflector - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Can You Fight for Climate Justice Without Being Antiwar? - Common Dreams - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Sustainable Tourism: A World leading to the road of Environment consciousness - Nomad Lawyer - NomadLawyer - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Atlanta's Cop City and the Struggle for Climate Justice - Resilience - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Jaishankars visit to Uganda, Mozambique went almost unnoticed but it indicated Indias bold gambit in Africa - Firstpost - April 23rd, 2023 [April 23rd, 2023]
- Natural resource - Wikipedia - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Non-renewable resource - Wikipedia - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Minister Wilkinson Launches Phase 2 of the Regional Energy and Resource Tables - Canada NewsWire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Executive Secretary participates in Russian Energy Week to advocate for decarbonization in the UNECE region ahead of COP27 - UNECE - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Renault Group: The Future Is NEUTRAL: The circular economy is stepping into a new era! - Yahoo Finance - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Economy Expected to Contract Further in 2023, as the Fed Appears Resolved to Tame Inflation - PR Newswire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Brazils Runoff Election Will Have Enormous Effects on the Global Climate Crisis - Truthout - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Health disparities and health inequalities: applying All Our Health - GOV.UK - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Opinion: Biopolitics is the invisible hand shaping mental health - The Connecticut Mirror - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Avaaz urges Georgieva and Trudeau to lasso-in commitments from IMF to attend December's vital UN Biodiversity Talks in Montreal - GlobeNewswire - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Kochi as a global city? Why not, asks the man behind Ahmedabads mega city story | Manorama English - Onmanorama - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Hennessy and Thurgood Marshall College Fund Announce partnership with Group Black and The Bishop Gallery to make "America's Most Influential... - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Pollution Prevention Week highlights ways to reduce, reuse and recycle waste - Michigan (.gov) - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- England headed for incineration overcapacity, warns UKWIN - Resource Magazine - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- 3 years of the Principles for Responsible Banking: our vision for change United Nations Environment Finance Initiative - UNEP Finance Initiative - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Isn't It Time To Challenge The Growth Paradigm? OpEd - Eurasia Review - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Coalition of Nearly 50 Organizations Launches 'Tear the Paper Ceiling' Campaign to Raise Awareness Around the 70+ Million Workers in the U.S. Skilled... - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Remote work can actually be more productive: More Hub readers respond to the work-from-home phenomenon - The Hub - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Mendocino Public Health on record-setting Sept. heat: We can't just treat this as a once-in-15-years occurrence - The Mendocino Voice - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Carbon Ridge Secures $6 Million Investment from Leading Climate Investors and Maritime Industry Leaders - Business Wire - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Regenerative Travel Is the Next Phase of Responsible Tourism - Outside Online - Outside - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- NNPC: Between rebranding and reforms, By Tijah Bolton-Akpan - Premium Times - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Embodying the spirit of Malaysia - The Edge Markets MY - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Nonprofit executive takes on state-appointed economic development role - MiBiz: West Michigan Business News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Noble Mineral Exploration Signs Exploration Agreement with the Constance Lake First Nation - Junior Mining Network - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Progressively Deepening Bilateral Partnership - The Geopolitics - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Oil money is flooding into Guyana. Who will benefit? - Reuters - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Remote-work revolution exposes need for better data, tracking tools to evaluate workforce, pay and economy - The Spokesman Review - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- We need rare earth elements for a greener future, but there's a catch - CBC.ca - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- BRNHA the steward of the living traditions of WNC: Opinion - Citizen Times - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- The Fiji Times Back in history: Future of forestry sector - Fiji Times - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Hochul announces grand opening of Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical Education Center - Troy Record - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Predicting the Future of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Columbia University - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- JD.com Ranks 46th on 2022 Fortune Global 500 - Yahoo Finance - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Minister Wilkinson Releases New Report Showing the Impacts of Climate Change and Necessity of Climate Adaptation in Ontario - Canada NewsWire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Do Armenians have a future as an independent nation? Part 4 - Armenian Weekly - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Getting the diagnostics right 2 - BusinessWorld Online - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- GrammaTech and T.E.N. Announce Call for Nominations for Product Security Executive of the Year Awards - Business Wire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Energy Vault and Jupiter Power Announce Agreement for Battery Energy Storage Projects in Texas and California Totaling 220 MWh - Business Wire - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- The North East LEP: Thinking bigger and planning together for the future - Bdaily - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- It's not enough to buy American. You also need to sell American all around the world. - The Ripon Society - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Bid to designate 50k acres in UP as wilderness highlights tension over public lands - MLive.com - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- A 'Living Wall' At Texas A&M Could Be The Key To Smarter Cities - Texas A&M University Today - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Architects and designers must embrace the circular economy - Project Scotland - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Strategic Minerals increases Tin and Tantalum production in June and Q2 2022 at its Penouta Mine - Yahoo Finance - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Issues of the Environment: Improving recycling rates and quality of recycling materials in Washtenaw County - WEMU - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Joe Oliver: The Liberal Cabinet Needs an Intervention - The Epoch Times - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- SDG&E and Cajon Valley Union School District Flip the Switch on Region's First Vehicle-to-Grid Project Featuring Local Electric School Buses Capable... - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Reimagining business: The greatest debt of all time - Newsroom - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Moody's affirms A1 rating of Newfoundland and Labrador, changes outlook to stable - Moody's - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- New Mexico's oil and gas revenues are breaking records and complicating budgets - New Mexico Political Report - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- FACT SHEET: White House Announces over $40 Billion in American Rescue Plan Investments in Our Workforce With More Coming - The White House - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- The Class of 2022 Is Ready to Workon Their Terms - SHRM - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Faraday Copper Announces Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Copper Creek Project in Arizona; Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources Exceed... - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Inside the Triangle's latest job opening data: What boards are showing and who's hiring - WRAL TechWire - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Reserve Bank keeps blinkers on inflation, raising OCR to 2.5% - Stuff - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- Abe's drive to bring back Japan | The Interpreter - The Interpreter - July 13th, 2022 [July 13th, 2022]
- UCF Hospitality Researchers Expertise Is Tapped for Global Sustainable Tourism Report - UCF - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Feminist Economics and the Fight for Human Rights - OHCHR - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Biden Administration announces historic coastal and climate resilience funding - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]
- Why green ammonia will be the workhorse of EU's future hydrogen economy - EURACTIV - June 30th, 2022 [June 30th, 2022]