Higher Education in XI Five Year Plan

The period from 2007 to 2012 is the period of the XI Five Year Plan. The draft of the XI Five Year Plan was approved by the National Development Council presided over by the Prime Minster and consisting of all Chief Ministers, on 19 December, 2007. Even before the plan was approved, officials of the planning commission, announced that there would be huge out lay for education in the XI plan. Speaking recently at Pune, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that the XI Five Year Plan would be “dubbed” as a National Education Plan. He meant that the plan would be described as National Education plan because of Government’s huge investment in the field of education during the plan period.

For the XI Five Year Plan period, a huge amount of 36 lakh crore rupees is allotted by the Government. Along with poverty eradication, agriculture, irrigation, health and women’s welfare, education is also described as a priority area in this plan. In the meeting of the National Development Council held recently in Delhi to discuss the draft of the XI Five Year Plan, Arjun Singh, Minister for H.R.D, declared that education is identified as a priority area for public policy during the XI Five Year Plan. Recognizing education as priority area by the Government in national economic development is a welcome development. This change in the thinking of the Government, though it has come late, is a good augury for the nation. All these years education was considered a non-priority area and investment in education was considered as unproductive. This was the thinking not only of political leaders but also of some economists in the country. This neglect of education is now giving place to the thinking that educational development is a prerequisite for national economic development.

During the X Five Year Plan period, allocation for education was only 8% of the total plan allocations. This has increased to 20% in the first budget of the XI Five Year Plan. This change also deserves to be appreciated.

However, a close examination of the facts reveals that education has really not received priority allocation even in the XI Five Year Plan. The allocation to education in the first year budget of the XI Five Year Plan is only 5.8%. This is not a high percentage. With such meager increase, it is not correct either to think or declare that education is given priority treatment in the XI plan.

There is another evidence to conclude that there is a great gap between declarations and actual implementation in allocation of funds in the field of education. In 2004, when the present U.P.A. Government was formed, the parties supporting the Government prepared the CMP (Common Minimum Programme) to be implemented by the Government. One of the points mentioned in the CMP is that a minimum of 6% of the GDP will be spent for educational development in the country. This promise remains on paper only. The percentage of GDP spent on education, since 2004 is declining every year. While in 2002-2003 it was 2.9 % it has decreased to 2.84 % in 2007-08. This is a disappointing information for all those who are interested in educational development in the country. In developed countries, the percentage of GDP spent on education is much higher than 6%. If our dream of becoming a great developed country is to be realised, our policy makers must take necessary steps to see that 6% of GDP is spent on educational development. This is possible only if there is a will to implement the policy. A firm commitment to the policy and effective monitoring of the funds will result in the successful implementation of the policy of spending 6% of GDP on educational development.

The Central Government and the UGC have decided to give importance specially to three aspects in the field of Higher Education during the XI Five Year Plan period.

1) Of the three, the first is increase of enrollment in higher education. At present only about 10% of the relevant age group are enrolled in institutions of higher education. In 1950, only 1 lakh students were on the rolls of institutions of higher education in our country. This constituted just 1% of the relevant age group. The increase from 1% in 1950 to 10% in 2007 deserves to be applauded. But it is far below the world average which is 23 %. When compared to other countries, we are ward in this respect. In America it is 80%, in Canada it is 88% and in Britain it is 52 %. Even in countries like Thailand (19%) and Indonesia (11%) the percentage is higher than the percentage in our country. It is observed that no developed country in the world has less than 25% of the relevant age group enrolled in institutions of higher education. As such to more forward to the position of a developed country, enrolment in higher education in any country should at least be 25% of the relevant age group. The immediate goal of the Government in this regard is to increase this percentage from 10% to 15 % by the end of the XI plan. 

2) Equity is another goal of the Government in the field of higher education during the XI Five Year Plan period. Development in the field of higher education is not equitably distributed in the country. In some regions, development is more and in some regions it is less. Development in urban areas is more than in rural areas. In tribal areas also development is very low. Govt. has announced certain plans to remove these imbalances in the field of higher education. Government has proposed to establish 16 more central universities in states where central universities are already not existing. Government has also decided that importance should be given for establishing colleges in tribal, ward areas and in areas where there is a higher percentage of S.C. population. Establishment of more universities in the country is part of the development package for higher education in our country. The National Knowledge Commission has recommended the establishment of 1500 universities by the end of the XI Five Year Plan. The present number of universities in our country is about 400. This is to be increased to 1500 by 2012. This quantitative expansion is pointed out as necessary for the over all development of the country. It is further argued that many countries in the world with lesser population than in India have more universities. America with a population of 27.6 crore has 2364 universities and Japan with a population of 12.7 crore population has 684 universities. Government now has plans to bring about unprecedented quantitative expansion of higher education in the country.

3) The third factor to which Government wants to pay special attention in the field of higher education during the XI plan period is improvement of the quality of higher education. At present, the quality of education in our institutions of higher education is far from satisfactory. In 90% of the colleges, the quality of education is far below the minimum expected standard. With the increase in the number of institutions, quality is likely to deteriorate. It is the responsibility of the UGC and the universities to see that quality is raised to appreciable levels. For improving quality, first the quality of teachers has to be improved. For this, proper motivational training programmes have to be conducted. Basic infrastructural facilities have to be provided and an atmosphere conducive to effective teaching and learning has to be created.

Apart from the three areas identified by the Government for development of higher education during in XI plan period, government, U.G.C. and the universities should also prepare strategies for providing value education in institutions of higher education also. For many of the evils in our country like increase of violence, criminalisation of politics and corruption, erosion of basic human  values is mentioned as a primary cause. To arrest this erosion of human values, there should be linkage between values and education.

It is said that we have good polices but bad implementation while the policies related to the XI plan are good, care should be taken to see that they are effectively implemented. It should be seen that the amounts allotted for various purposes are fully utilized for the purpose for which they are meant. Corruption at any level, will stifle development. Let us hope that we will be successful in effectively implementing the polices during the XI plan period.