PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A PRAGMATIC STEP TOWARDS

QUALITY EDUCATION

By Mr. Mirza Ahmed Afzal Farooq, Lecturer, Dept of English, Baptist College, Kohima,
Nagaland, India

INTRODUCTION
Higher educational institutions have been visualized with an aim to develop a dutiful,
responsible citizen, who has a clear idea about his roles and responsibilities in the society.
Spreading awareness about the importance of being educated is also one of the
responsibilities. Institutions of higher education are the fulcrums the youths of a nation
use for meaningful upward mobility in individual life as well as for showing path of
progress to the nation. Institutions equipped with quality faculty, imparting quality
education to the youths can herald a sea change in the society on all fronts. In this sense,
the institutions of higher education are the storehouses of talents and capable man power
who can alter the destiny of a nation and here lies the importance of these institutions.
SCENARIO OF HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS IN PRE AND POST-
INDEPENDENT INDIA
At the time of Indian independence in 1947, there were 20 universities, 500 colleges with
2, 40,000 students in the country. Today there are more than 300 university level
institutions, and 13,000 colleges with approximately 10 million students. There are more
than 4, 30,000 teachers engaged in teaching in these institutions. The statistics
encourages commentators to hold the view that there has been a massive expansion of
higher education in the country during the last five decades. But if we compare the
figures of access to higher education in India with other developed and leading
developing countries, we find that only 7.5% of India’s youths in the age-group of 17-23
years are studying in the institutions of higher education in comparison to 15-22% of the
youths having access to higher education in many other countries. It testifies to the fact
that India is considerably far below the level of access to higher education normally
expected in a developed democratic society. Education is destined to be a globally
collaborative enterprise. There is enormous interest evinced by the foreign education

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providers to collaborate with Indian institutions both in the private and public sector and
set up a variety of educational enterprises in India. The future of the nation depends on
how successful we are in making India the global hub of knowledge creation. India has a
natural advantage—a massive human resource. At present India is experiencing low
growth long-term average and spreading unemployment which have been principal
sources of concern on the economic scene. To achieve full employment at a 2.4% growth
in population, the number of jobs should rise by 9%. Education in vocational stream and
entrepreneurial line should be developed to create environment for enlarging India’s
economic activities.

HISTORY OF THE PRIVATE REVOLUTION

Establishment of private institutions of higher education has been a long felt need even in
the developed countries. Australia, England and the US over the years have shown an
unprecedented predilection for promoting and encouraging private institutions of higher
education in order to impart quality education to the youths so that they become good
leaders, responsible citizens and efficient human resource. Regarding the history of the
growth of private educational institutions Philip G Altbach points out:
Private higher education’s strongest traditional centres have developed in East Asia. For
almost a century, private institutions have numerically dominated the higher education
systems of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines—enrolling 80% of all
students. These Asian countries constitute major centres of private higher education.
While the United States is often regarded as a centre of private higher education, in fact
only 20% of American students now study at private institutions. The private sector does,
however, enroll a higher proportion of graduate and professional students. Many of the
most prestigious U.S universities are private, but the large majority of students attend
public colleges and universities. American private colleges and universities rank at all
levels of the academic system—most not at the top. However, the United States was
dominated by the private sector for much of its history, and the earliest academic
institutions, including Harvard and Yale, were private. Until the late 19th century, 80% of
enrollments were in the private sector. The part of the world least touched by private
higher education is Western Europe, where the large majority of students study in the
private sector—perhaps ninety percent of the total. Since the 1990s, China has built up a

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 large private sector, but most of the private institutions are not degree granting colleges,
and only a small proportion receive official authorization by the Ministry of Education to
grant degrees. The situation in China is rapidly changing as more institutions are granted
recognition by the government and the private sector moves up the academic hierarchy
by establishing better-equipped and more comprehensive institutions. (2006:1)
The private sector is expanding most rapidly in Latin America and Asia, with Africa
growing slowly but steadily. Brazil has had a majority of its students in private
institutions and Indonesia now educates about half its students at private institutions, and
Malaysia also has a large private sector. India constitutes a special case because it has
long educated the large majority of its under graduate students at private institutions, but
the private colleges are mainly affiliated to public universities and receive a significant
part of their funding from the government. The private institutions are also highly
regulated by their sponsoring universities and by the state governments. In the past
several decades a genuine private higher education sector has emerged in India with
institutions that receive no government support at all. Some of these new institutions are
linked to traditional universities for examinations and some other purposes, while others
have been granted fully. (Ibid:2)

RECENT GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES IN INDIA

The Indian Government has taken progressive steps towards reforming and enhancing
quality in higher education. The National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher
Educational Institutions Bill seeks to set up an independent regulatory body which will
register, monitor and audit accreditation agencies, which will in turn regulate the process
of accreditation of higher educational institutions through transparent assessment of
academic quality. Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational
Institutions and University Bill proposes to make capitation fee a cognizable offence. It
proposes punishment for adoption of unfair practices in higher educational institutions.
Indian Government has already taken a decision to establish The National Commission
for Higher Education and Research to co-ordinate, maintain standards and promote
higher education and research, including university education, technical and professional
education other than agriculture and medical education. With the new reforms in the
pipeline, the Indian Government is moving in the right direction with a global higher

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education vision of 21st century. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource
Development says:
We therefore, need to ensure that the Right to Education Act, 2009, is implemented in
right earnest through collaborative efforts of the Central and state governments along
with the necessary stakeholders in civil society. Our aim is to increase our GER from
12.4% at present to 30% by 2020. If we achieve this, then, of 220 million children going
to school, about 70 million children will be eligible to move on for higher education. The
present figure is about 26 million. In other words, by 2020, we should and must
incrementally build enough capacity in the higher education sector to be able to cater to
the needs of over 40 million extra children. ( The Times of India 2010:5)
Huge investment is required for the realization of these plans. Mr. Kapil Sibal expressed
his idea of ‘public- private partnerships’. Regarding investment in higher education, the
minister says to Times of India:
With the transformation of our curricula and methodologies, we need to make the
university system more independent and accountable. Universities should have the
freedom to reach out to key stakeholders for resources and talent and allow a system of
recruitment, which will help meet the challenges. Our universities must become centers
of knowledge emphasizing the significance of research, a sine qua non for knowledge
creation. It is in this context that in the 11th Five Year plan (2007-2012), allocation was
stepped upto 19% from around 7.7% of the budgetary support in the 10 th plan. (March 20,
2010 p. 5)
Indian government has planned to give a new fillip to higher education and therefore it
seeks to fund 30 new Central Universities, 5 new Indian Institutes of Science Education
and Research, 8 new Indian Institute of Technology, 11 new Indian institute of
Management, and 20 new Indian Institute of Information Technology. To man these
institutions, the need of trained faculty arises and a heavy investment is required to train
teachers and to build quality faculty. ( Ibid: 6) The government tries to give an impetus
to public institutions of higher education because it wants to revivify the image of the
public sector in the society so that it becomes a profitable and investment-worthy area.

In order to justify the marketization of higher education, it is argued that it does not yield
much in terms of social returns. In its report ‘Higher Education: Lessons of Experience’

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(1994) the World Bank declared higher education as a ‘non-merit good’ whereas school
education was put into the category of ‘merit goods’. As a result the Indian Ministry of
Finance prepared the Paper on Government Subsidies in India (1997) which sought to
drastically reduce the state funding of higher education. This proposal was boosted by the
Ambani Birla Report (2000) which recommended that subsidies should be almost entirely
done away with. The private providers should be allowed to market the new wave
subjects like IT and BT. Thus the business tycoons want to convert higher education into
a fully controlled profitable market.
CAUSES OF GLOBAL SPREAD OF PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION
There is quite a good deal of factors responsible for the global spread of privatization of
higher education. It is felt that only privatization of higher education can respond to the
growing need of keeping pace with the advanced countries. Arthur Levine alludes to
some vital factors to the global spread of privatization of higher education. They are: (a)
Rise of an information based economy, (b) an increase in public scrutiny, (c) a decline in
public trust in the government, (d) advent of new technologies, (e) convergence of
knowledge-based organizations and (f) demographic changes. ( www.nga.org/cda/files
p.18.) Accountability, competitiveness, recognition of merit, infrastructure, motivational
factors are the hallmarks of good private institutions of higher education which attract
students.

WHAT AILS THE PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA

The private sector will certainly expand and thrive in the contemporary higher education
marketplace. It is clear that the private higher education sector makes many important
contributions—the most notable among them is: providing study opportunities for many
students who would otherwise not be able to find a place at a public institution. Many
have argued that the private sector has created a degree of competition in a moribund
public system, which has focused on students and had other benefits. However, the
growth of private higher education in India has not been strikingly impressive as it suffers
from certain hindrances which need to be addressed immediately.
There are private higher educational institutions, especially the new vocationally and
commercially focused schools, which set their sights mainly on their own success and

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market position rather than their role in a national higher education system or in serving
the broader public good. Public universities typically function as part of a coordinated
public system of higher education and their activities are regulated by the state in varying
degrees. Private universities experience few constraints in their activities. Yet, unless
they go beyond a strict market-oriented approach, private universities will ignore broad
public needs. The indifference to public good leads to exploitation which the private
sector must avoid.
Quality assurance is one of the central issues in higher debates today. The serious
problems include assuring the quality of diverse academic institutions and ensuring that
they maintain standards of teaching, admission and infrastructure. Quality assurance in
the private sector is especially important given that few other controls exist other than
market forces. Many countries are moving toward instituting more careful quality
assurance and regulations of degree offerings. International efforts are underway in the
field of quality assurance, although national mechanisms are necessarily at the heart of a
system of ensuring higher education quality and relevance.
Transparency should be a fundamental concern for the private institutions of higher
education. Reliable information concerning private academic institutions, degree
offerings and quality is often unavailable. Data concerning the effectiveness of academic
programmes, the success of graduates in the job markets, drop-out rates and the like are
important for potential students to have. Often, such information is unavailable.
Many new private institutions rely on part-time teachers with little commitment to the
institutions and sometimes with scant qualifications. The new private institutions seldom
have a cadre of full-time professors to develop the curriculum to provide adequate faculty
governance. The newer private universities seldom focus on research; professors have
little time for research and hardly receive rewards as recognition of his contribution. The
new private universities and colleges have, to some extent redefined the academic
profession—concentrating on how the teaching function can best and least expensively
serve the institutional mission. The traditional independence of the professoriate has been
eliminated in this new approach to university management. Some private universities
retain a more traditional vision of the academic profession and the older private
universities maintain a full array of disciplines and faculties. Many public institutions of

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higher education have moved in similar directions in recent years as well. The future of
the professoriate, the role of research, and the terms and conditions of academic
appointments have all been brought into question by the new private higher education
sector.
The private higher education sector’s international linkages include franchising, branch
campuses, and many programmes. The effective development of management of cross-
border programmes present a challenge, as does ensuring that those initiatives
appropriately serve students. Cross border higher education is one of the high growth
areas of the 21st century, and the private sector faces the task of ensuring that the
programmes are effectively managed.
The private institutions of higher education run the greatest risk of being exploitative.
Profit being one of the major concerns of the institutions, the private management desires
to earn maximum profit through minimum investment. The faculty becomes the first
victim in this particular count. Efficient man power and capable teachers demand higher
salary package which the private institutions are reluctant to pay. At the same time, there
are innumerable instances of teachers quitting their jobs in the middle of the session due
to disagreement between the teachers and the management which victimizes the students
and exposes the shallowness of the claim that private institutions pay better than the
public institutions. Thus, it is a formidable challenge before the private institutions of
higher education to shun exploitation. (Ibid: 5)
The private higher education institutions run the risk of getting commercialized. In many
such renowned institutions in India, the fee structure is so high that poor but meritorious
students cannot get into them because they cannot afford the high fee. At the turn of the
century, India came to be regarded as an emerging knowledge power. Private higher
education should be encouraged without the risk of commercialization. Jamia Hamdard
University, New Delhi which has the reputation of educating students from the length and
breadth of the country besides students from 16 foreign countries across South East Asia,
South Asia, Middle East and North Africa has proved that private institutions can do
wonders is disseminating knowledge without being commercialized.
Privatization has led to an indiscriminate expansion of technical education. The present
state of affairs has led to a lower turn out of scientists, historians, journalists,

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philosophers and technocrats. The mushrooming of educational institutions for higher
education hamper in developing creativity, originality and innovativeness, which will
take a back seat in international forum and the whole Indian culture will suffer.
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has recommended the
universities and colleges to go for self-financing courses. During the last 50 years or so,
higher education in India was welfare and development oriented, but it would be difficult
for the academics to generate funds through higher education. In the midst of diversity of
higher education, India is moving a step forward to spread higher education horizontally
and vertically with the direction of NAAC.
The for-profit system of higher education thrives on the seven core “ ingredients of
profitability”: i) Customer service orientation, ii) Career placement, iii) Higher demand
curricula, iv) Rapid response to the market, v) Optimal use of infrastructure facilities to
suit customer convenience, vi) Pricing and cost of courses and vii) Scale of economies
and operating efficiencies. “It applies modern principles of operations management and
marketing. The result has been an efficient, cost-effective, alternative route to college
degree, albeit with a somewhat limited focus on pragmatic, applications-oriented
instructions.” (Ruch 2001: 12))
These are some of the challenges that the private institutions of higher education face
today. In order to conquer these areas, the private sector must strive for excellence by
avoiding the lacuna that the government sector suffers from.

WHY PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IS PRAGMATIC STEP

TOWARDS QUALITY EDUCATION
I) It is a general notion that privatization leads to commercialization. But one cannot lose
sight of the fact that privatization also yields better quality output. Commercialization
kills the true spirit of the institutions and therefore clairvoyant private management does
ensure that the institutions do not deviate from its core purpose. Majority of the
management, engineering and other professional institutions in India today are under
control of the private sector and they are the most sought after institutions. It is true that
private institutions of higher education are expensive, but the students are imparted

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education by the best academicians in the field. It is quality that matters in the private
education sector.
ii) The private management is extra-particular and cautious about the appointment of
faculty because they are result- oriented. Best performance is possible by the best faculty.
The quality of the faculty decides his/ her length of service in the institution. The private
sector, especially the ones concerned about the production of human resources make no
concession or compromises whatsoever on quality of the faculty and his/ her efficiency.
The same does not apply to the public sector. The government sector has almost become
an example of idle, unproductive and lazy life. There is want of accountability and
seriousness on the part of the faculty.
iii) It is a bitter pill to swallow for the Government institutions of higher education that an
increased sense of evasiveness is prevalent among the faculty. There are frequent
agitations and strikes in such institutions resorted to, by students and in most cases the
cause is found to be irregularity and lack of concern on the part of the faculty for the
students. Classes are scarcely attended by some faculty which effects the career of the
students for which strikes and agitations become the only means to draw the attention of
the administration. This happens mainly because, the faculty feels that even if they evade
their duty, they would continue getting their salary and other benefits from the
government. Such irresponsibility and want of accountability is considered almost
unthinkable in good private institutions.
iv) It is often alleged that work culture is fast disappearing among the teaching faculty in
the government sector. They become self-complacent when they reach their target. Once
a professor, it is a general tendency among the faculty that they forget that they should to
do more for the society and the student community at large. The consequence is that they
remain isolated and detached from the latest developments in the area. Knowledge is ever
expanding and ever growing. Self-complacency, very commonly seen among the highly
posted faculty results in the stagnation of knowledge and the students are deprived of up
to date information in various fields. On the contrary, the private sector is known for its
insistence on well-informed faculty and creates provision for updating the knowledge of
faculty. Survival of the fittest is the mantra for private institutions of higher education.

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v) An important factor that motivates the faculty of the private sector to keeping abreast
of up to date information and display zeal to work harder is salary package. It is only
after the implementation of the latest Sixth Pay Commission that there has been a
substantial rise in the salary of the faculty of higher educational institutions. The brain
drain is taking place in India mainly because of the governmen’s inability to pay the
deserving candidates their due. The developed nations like the USA, the UK, Austrlia and
many others have drained out many Indian intellectually superior brains. India could have
done much better if those rare brains could be retained by paying the salary they deserve.
The private sector never legs behind in this particular respect. They are ready to pay even
huge package to the right candidate. Of course, here and there one can see differences but
the well-focused institutions never compromise with an efficient faculty on grounds of
salary.
vi) Job security is another factor which draws confident and daring candidates to the
private sector. Private institutions of higher education are not for the lazy, deficient,
diffident, self- complacent faculty. It is only for those who have a spirit to face challenge
and defeat it. The job is secure and remunerative expanding his realm of knowledge and
therefore he enjoys his work.
vii) Discipline, decorum, seriousness of purpose are stricter in the private sector than in
the government sector. Private Institutions frame rules and regulations which apply
equally to the employees and the students. Least violation of the same invites penalty and
sometimes even termination. Rules in the government institutions are pretty flexible and
hence there is no fear of punishment for violating them.
viii) Infrastructure of the institutions is an important factor that attracts the students to the
private sector. Adequate and proper infrastructural facilities are of immense significance.
The government sector is often seen cutting a sorry figure in ensuring good infrastructure
to the institutions of higher educational institutions. Well equipped class rooms and labs.
enable the teachers and students to teach and learn effectively. Private institutions in
India today have made a difference in this area. Their infrastructure is superior to the
government sector.
Privatization of higher education thus prognosticates a better future. Concentration on
the developmental aspects on the part of the private management would certainly make it

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the most sought after sector. It must strive to win the hearts of public through its
performance and not through rhetoric. Students of this globalized world demand
something ‘extra’ which can be provided by the private sector through its efficient and
‘thirsty for knowledge’ faculty.

FUTURE OF PRIVATIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

The future of privatized higher education can by no means be under estimated and
reckoned as bleak. Government sector has lost the trust of the common people and there
has been an unprecedented predilection and inclination of the students and guardians
towards the private sector. Quality of education and placement of the students are
relatively better in the private sector. In order to help and attract the poor but meritorious
students, the private sector has started offering lucrative scholarships. India itself is an
example of maximum students pursuing professional courses at private higher
educational institutions. Old syllabi, unscientific evaluation system, saffronization of
education, malpractices in teacher’s appointment, poor and irregular salaries, low level of
infrastructural facilities are some of the features of the public higher educational
institutions. The private sector, on the contrary, does emphasize on these aspects and tries
to compete with the government sector avoiding the factors which contribute to the loss
of public trust in the government institutions.
The government is indifferent to many colleges and other institutions of higher education
in many parts of the country. For instance, there are more than 150 non-deficit colleges in
different parts of Assam where the lecturers receive a meager amount of Rs. 500 to
Rs.2000 as salary per month. The state government provides financial assistance to these
colleges from time to time, but never takes over. There are instances that many teachers
are retiring from such colleges without ever being able to taste the fruit of their service to
the nation in the form of government salary. Assam is only one example out of many
states experiencing the same plight in the country. The government’s indifference to the
higher educational institutions leads the faculty to frustration which results in poor
dissemination of knowledge. The enthusiasm of the teachers is thus strangled. So
naturally, teachers are drawn towards the private sectors where they are giving their best
and producing better results.

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Students are frustrated, and the teachers are losing their motivation in the government
institutions. The number of dropouts is increasing paving the way for anti-social
activities. The private sector plays a vital role in this respect. Although it charges higher
fee than that of the government sector, it opens some ways for its students to stand on
their on feet depending on the demand of the courses they pursued. Some private
institutes of higher education invite different companies for on campus recruitment and
make sure that their products are absorbed in some fields. The government sector cannot
take that initiative because, barring a few, majority of the institutions feel that once the
degree is offered, their responsibility is over.
Privatization of higher education would help meet the demand of growing need for
quality education in the sense that quality improves where there is competition. There is
cut throat competition among the private institutions for excellence. Such
competitiveness is fast disappearing from the stereo-type and self-complacent
government institutions of higher education. The private sector can attract more students
by constantly improvising the syllabi which would suit the present need for efficient
manpower.
Many of the private institutions of higher education in India are excellent institutions in
the sense that their infrastructure, recourses, faculty programmes of teaching and research
are almost as good as the best in the advanced countries. But the same cannot be said of
the average public institutions of higher education in India. They do not come anywhere
near the level of average institutions of higher education in the advanced countries. This
vast gap in standards and facilities has been a cause of constant anxiety and worry to the
policy planners of higher education in the country. Any study of the reports of the various
commissions and committees on higher education clearly shows the perpetual distress
and agony over the poverty and sickness of the institutions of higher education. It
deserves mention that universities and colleges also suffer from the general loss of trust
in public institutions that has been growing steadily during the last three decades. The
public image of universities and colleges has suffered also due to the fact that many
academics continuously run down their own colleagues and institutions. As a result, for
the public at large, all the four main constituents of university and college system, namely
the management, the teachers, the students, and other staff seem to be busy pursuing any

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other self-serving goals and their respective vested interests except the main purpose for
which the universities and colleges exist-- namely pursuit of knowledge and skills.
Discussions among these constituents of universities and colleges are primarily confined
to a condemnation of paucity of resources, poor quality of learning and teaching mainly
attributed to uninterested students and lazy or incompetent teachers, weak and ineffective
managements constantly working under extraneous pressures. Conflicting perspectives of
the nature, aims and methods of higher education result in contrary proposals for reforms.
As a result, the conceptualization of ‘quality’ in higher education seems so vague and
unspecific that it sounds convenient to term it as an illusive concept. In doing so, it is
forgotten that knowledge is discovered/ created, conserved, transmitted and applied in
every day life. Ironically, it is only the professionals, active in the domain of pursuit and
creation of knowledge, who have serious disagreements over the issues of academic
excellence and impoverished quality. Little effort is to put to find practical and effective
solutions to the problems burdening the system of higher education. Each constituent
tends to shift the blame to the other constituents and claims to be a victim of the designs
or failings of the others. The academicians should avoid evasive approach of adopting
self-righteousness attitude and shifting the blame to the other segments.
The issue of accessibility to quality education needs to be addressed in the light of vast
economic and social disparities, cultural and linguistic diversities and extremely uneven
opportunities of learning at the school level, aspirations and capacities of the potential
students. Hence, it requires that the question of access to higher education be addressed
at the local, regional, national, and international levels from trans-disciplinary, inter-
disciplinary, and discipline-specific perspectives.
CONCLUSION
Privatization of higher education is the need of the hour because the public sector is
continually losing trust of the mass. In order to excel in the business of imparting quality
education to the youths of the country, the private sector must prove its credential
through its performance. It is observed that the private institutions of higher education
have been doing better than their public counterparts in technical, management, medical
and other fields of study. It is therefore, the government of India has a plan under way to
establish foreign universities and colleges on ‘public-private partnership’ basis.

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REFERENCES
Altbach, Philip G. 2006. “ The Private Higher Education Revolution: An Introduction.”
University News. New Delhi. Vol. 44. Jan. 02-08.
Kalam, APJ. 2003. “Nation Building: The Mission of the Universities.” University
News. Dec. 1.
Ruch, Richard S. 2001. Higher ed. Inc. the rise of the for-profit University. Baltimore,
MD, Johns Hopkins University Press.
World Bank. 2002. Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise. The
Report of the Task force on Higher Education Society. Washington.
The Times of India, New Delhi 2010.
INTERNET SOURCES
www.nga.org/cda/files

Dear Sir,
Please find attached herewith an article entitled “ Privatization of Higher Education: A
Pragmatic Step towards Quality Education” to be presented in the upcoming International
Seminar in the month of January. This is for your kind information and necessary action.
With regards,
M .A. Afzal Farooq
Lecturer, Dept. of English,
Baptist College, Kohima.

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