Internalise quality while expanding higher education sector: Ved Prakash Mishra

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While India progresses towards its 2035 goal of 50% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education, achieving it would still leave 50% of those eligible for higher education out of the system. This means that the current rate of expansion of higher education institutions in the country is not able to match up to the massive requirement, says Ved Prakash Mishra, Pro-Chancellor, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra.

He was speaking at the inaugural of an international conference on Accreditation, Ranking, and Quality, organised by Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research in Chennai.

Dr. Mishra outlined the dichotomy that although no other country was able to match the proliferation of higher education institutions as witnessed in India, it could “cater to only one-fourth of the numerical requirement of the eligible targeted population”, with the present GER nationally being 26.8%.

That wasn’t the only problem. In the context of “quantified development and rapidity of multiplication, quality cannot be put to sacrifice”, he said, adding that accreditation was an important aspect in that context, and ranking of higher education institutions in India, using global metrics, should be a consequence of the gradation system.

In the top 500 institutions ranked globally, India has not been able to cut a mark and, therefore, global standards should be the benchmark to be incorporated and built into the operational system for quality centricity in higher education. Linking accreditation and quality certifying mechanisms will ensure that Indian graduates and post-graduates are globally relevant.

In India, there were isolated patches or islands of quality centricity. While there were extraordinary quality centric institutions, there also were a bulk of mediocre and sub-mediocre institutions, and they were important for the cause of higher education. Mainstreaming quality in these institutions will require capacity building at a national level.

Uma Sekar, Vice-Chancellor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, said the two-day conference was being organised to decode the accreditation and ranking system, and navigate through the system to help achieve higher ranks.

H. Thamizhchelvan, Dean, Sri Ramachandra Dental College and Hospital, and K. Anbarasi, Professor, Sri Ramachandra Dental College and Hospital, spoke.