Education in India

Parliamentary Roundup - Teacher shortage, NOC for CBSE schools, Data on GER & edu expenditure as % of GDP

A round up of recent answers by the Minstry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to questions raised in the Lok Sabha, relating to education.

 

Details on the shortage of school teachers in India (state-wise)

Out of 19.84 lakh sanctioned teacher posts under SSA, 14.8 lakh teachers have been recruited and another 5.04 lakh are yet to be recruited as on Sep, 30, 2013.  Bihar (1.75 lakh to be recruited) and U.P (1.24 lakh) are the farthest behind.

(Source: Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 188 Answered on 18.12.2013)

 

On use of NCERT vs private publishers' textbooks in CBSE schools

"The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has, since 2005-06, directed all its affiliated schools to refrain from recommending the books of private publishers in different subjects at the senior secondary level. The CBSE now prescribes only the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) published books for classes IX to XII."

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2101 Answered on 18.12.2013

 

On the requirement of an NOC from the State Government concerned for affiliation of a private school with CBSE NOC from the State Government concerned for affiliation of a private school with CBSE.

"The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) no longer requires an NOC from the State Government. CBSE has amended its Affiliation Bye-Laws which state that the school seeking provisional affiliation with the Board must have prior recognition of the State/UT Government. The applicant School has to also produce evidence to this effect that they had intimated the concerned Education Department of the State/UT about the application made to the CBSE for seeking affiliation with the Board. In case of receipt of any objection during the process of application of the school, the Board may ask the concerned school to produce the No Objection Certificate from the State/UT Government. Otherwise it would be assumed that concerned State/UT Government has no objection.

The newly amended provision ensures authentication of the facts and credentials of the private school as the applicant school is required to seek recognition from the State/UT Government prior to submitting its application for seeking affiliation from the Board. The Board also physically inspects the applicant school to assess its suitability before the grant of affiliation." 

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2140 Answered on 18.12.2013)

 

On the proposal to open Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode; the norms laid down for opening of KVs in the country; the number of KVs functioning in the country along with the students enrolled in these KVs, State/ UT-wise

"The Board of Governors of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) in its 91st meeting held on 19.01.2012 has taken a policy decision that the scheme of opening of new Kendriya Vidyalayas under the Public Private Parternership (PPP mode) is not in line with the mandate of the KVS." 

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2199 Answered on 18.12.2013)

"Presently 1091 KVs are functioning in the country." -  State/UT-wise details along with enrollment data and norms for opening new KVs.

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 1115 Answered on 11.12.2013)

 

Detailed data on the gross-enrolment rate* (GER) of children in primary, upper-primary, secondary and senior secondary levels in the country during 2008-09 to 2010-11, state-wise, year-wise and gender-wise.

For India as a whole, GER is

• 116.7 at the Primary level (Class I-V);
• 83.1 at the Upper Primary level (Class VI-VIII);
• 60.8 at the Secondary level (Class IX-X) and
• 36.1 at the Senior Secondary Level (Class XI-XII)

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 2296 Answered on 18.12.2013)

 

On the overall government expenditure on Education (Centre + States) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during last three years, comparison with the same figures for other countries and why the goal of spending at least 6% of GDP hasn't been achieved.

Overall government expenditure on Education (Centre + States) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

• 3.95%  -  2009-10
• 4.20%  -  2010-11 (Revised Estimate)
• 4.17%  -  2011-12 (Budget Estimate)

"As per the figures published by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) in its publication titled, “Global Education Digest 2012”, the share of education in Gross Domestic Product in some other countries were U.S.A.(5.4%), U.K.(5.6%), Japan (3.8%), Australia (5.1%), Russian Federation (4.1%), Egypt (3.8%), Azerbaijan (3.2%), Georgia (3.2%), Tajikistan (4.0%), Hong Kong SAR of China (3.6 %), Thailand (3.8%), Peru (2.7%), Jamaica (6.1%), Pakistan (2.4%), Bangladesh (2.2%), Ethiopia (4.7%), United Republic of Tanzania (6.2%) and Zambia (1.3%) during 2010.

During the XII Five Year Plan, the Ministry of Human Resource Development have been allocated a sum of Rs.4,53,728 crore (Rs.3,43,028 crore for the Department of School Education & Literacy and Rs.1,10,700 crore for the Department of Higher Education) as compared to actual expenditure in XI Five Year Plan which was Rs.1,77,566.86 crore (Rs.1,37,920.04 crore for the Department of School Education & Literacy and Rs.39,646.82 crore for Department of Higher Education). This increase in central plan outlay for education represents a very substantial effort on the part of the Central Government for raising public spending on education towards the national goal of spending 6% of GDP for education. Overall progress towards this goal, would however, also depend on the efforts made by the States and the private sector.

This increase in central plan outlay for education represents a very substantial effort on the part of the Central Government for raising public spending on education towards the national goal of spending 6% of GDP for education. Overall progress towards this goal, would however, also depend on the efforts made by the States and the private sector."

(Source: Lok Sabha UnStarred Question No. 1085 Answered on 11.12.2013)

Competition between different levels of government in education

With private school enrollments increasing over the years, government schools are in effect in competition with private schools for students. But there is another kind of competition in play in the education sector - the competition between the local governments, the state government and the central government.

T.R. Raghunandan's recent piece at Accountability Initiative helps put this kind of competition in context. Here is what Raghunandan wrote:

In a landmark book, named Competitive Governments, Albert Breton turned the concept of decentralization on its head.

The classical idea of decentralization is that different levels of government ought to be given clear and exclusive responsibilities. It is hypothesized that this will drive people to hold each level of government accountable for what they ought to do and consequently, service delivery will improve.

Breton, came up with an alternative hypothesis. He proposed that governments could be competitive in their relations with each other and in their relations with other institutions in society, such as private providers of services, in supplying consuming households with goods and services. He contended that such competition between government levels and private service providers would enable households to make efficient choices as they would individually make the links between the services that they pick from each provider, based upon the tax prices that they pay for these goods and services.

...

This is a really chastening thought for pro-decentralisers like me!

Let me illustrate whether the thoughts of Albert Breton and Jack Weldon are relevant in the real world. One does not need to go far to seek out examples. In India now, we have a significant number of people who have obtained the ‘Aadhaar’, which is a unique identification number. Earlier, identification was a local activity. If an individual moved from one place to another, she needed to cancel her ration card in one location and obtain a new ration card in another. This was terribly inconvenient and corruption prone. Now, the Aadhaar number is universally accepted all over India. Seen in the light of theory, the Aadhar number is thus a mechanism by which the central government has managed the ‘externality’ of identification. However, this leads to some interesting spinoffs. With a relatively more reliable identification process in its hand, it is possible for the central government to centralize the delivery of pro-poor services through a direct cash transfer. For instance, using the Aadhaar number, the centre could send pensions directly to all senior citizens, with little work for the State or the local government to do, because the externality of identification has been managed at the top through the UID.

So how would this apply in the education sector? Govt funded schools in India have been run by different levels of government including panchayats, zilla parishads, municipal corporations, state governments and the central government (Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas, Sainik Schools etc..). The state governments also have indirect control over all government-aided schools under private management. I don't know if anyone has studied how competition between these various levels of governments in running schools has been playing out, right from the pre-independence era.

One example is the Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs). In the early 1960s, the Central Government set up the KVs to address the problems faced by the children of transferable central government employees who have to move across the country. Transferring from one state board curriculum to another, at possibly different levels and, with a different set of languages would have been a nightmare for children of such employees. The KVs are present across all states and provide uniformity in the curriculum as well as continutity in the school year across all schools. They are entirely under the purview of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan, a central government body, and the state governments have no say in how they are funded or run.

Although admissions to KVs are restricted to children of Central Government employees, what if the central government could set up many more KVs or other such schools across the country (there are around 980 now) and also open up admissions to any child. I wonder if there are any restrictions on the Kendriya Vidyalayas or the Central Government from doing something like this. For instance, Tamil Nadu has not permitted the Central Government to run a Navodaya Vidyalaya in the state.

Currently, control of schools is pretty much concentrated with the state governments. They call the shots for all schools run by lower levels of government. The central government provides some funding to the states, but doesn't have a say in the administration of schools. If, and when, the state governments decide to actively devolve power and control of schools, including financial and administrative autonomy for running schools to the lower levels of governments, some interesting possibilities may emerge. These schools are likely to be more responsive to parents and children and more accountable for learning outcomes. The idea of devolution has been discussed for a long time now, but the political class, the bureaucracy and the teacher community seem to have little incentive to do so. It will probably happen only after sustained bottom-up political pressure is mobilised by the parents at the grassroots level.

Another type of competition between governments that is playing out is at the level of accrediting bodies, the school boards. An ongoing case in the Supreme Court (Special Leave Petition (Civil) 16 of 2013 - Asso. of Management of Pvt. Schools(CBSE) .Vs. State of Tamil Nad & Ors.) highlights this.

The Tamil Nadu Legislature passed the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009 that allows the Government to determine and specify a ceiling for fees for each school. Private schools in Tamil Nadu affiliated to the CBSE and ICSE went to the Madras High Court arguing that by dint of their affilation to the CBSE/ICSE, they could not be regulated by the State Government. The CBSE's counsel also made the same point in the case arguing that the State Government will not be entitled to regulate the fees by enforcing a rigid fee structure on CBSE schools. But the Madras High Court ruled (Writ Petition 28305 of 2010) in favour of the Government of Tamil Nadu in September 2012.

The case is now in the Supreme Court and it's decision on this is due early next month.

The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Schools Bill, 2012 - full text of the draft

The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) has come up with a draft legislation for prohibiting unfair practices in schools.

A copy of the full text of the draft of  The Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Schools Bill, 2012 can be downloaded here (~15MB pdf).

I quickly scanned through it and at first glance, the bill seems to be excessively harsh and severe on the schools, although there are some very good clauses too, which could bring about much needed transparency in the functioning of schools.

The proposed draft legislation was to be presented before the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting on November 1st, but Business Standard reports that the CABE Committee meeting for November 1st was postponed due to the change of guard at the Ministry of HRD.

According to a report in Law et al, even before the Government officially published the draft of the bill,  the Independent School Federation of India (IFSI) filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on this and the Court has already issued orders on the petition.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) to publish on its website the proposed “Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Schools Bill, 2012" framed by it.

A bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher was today hearing a petition by Independent School Federation of India (ISFI) seeking direction to CABE to give appropriate hearing to all before finalizing penal provisions in the proposed Bill.

ISFI also sought direction to Ministry of Human Resource & Development (HRD) to give appropriate representation to the managements of private schools in the composition of CABE to give their suggestions.

In its petition ISFI has alleged that although CABE gave lip-representation to academicians but no representation is given to private management.

The proposed legislation would be presented before the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meeting on November 1.

Delhi High Court case details:

Delhi High Court Case no. W.P.(C) 6857/2012

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL FEDERATION OF INDIA & ANR  Vs.   THE UNION OF INDIA & ANR
Advocate: SK Chauhan

The orders passed by Justice Rajiv Shakdher have not yet been uploaded on the Delhi High Court website, at the time of writing this post. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for November 5th.

Schools seem to fear that the Government will ride roughshold over their concerns and drive the bill through Parliament without giving them a fair hearing. Hence the pre-emptive petition by ISFI in the Delhi High Court. Though the ISFI has taken up the cudgels on behalf of the schools, correspondents and principals of all private, aided and unaided ought to go through the draft bill and consider the legal and practical implications of the bill, if it becomes law in the proposed form. Various associations of schools across the country would do well to print and mail a copy of the draft bill to each and every school correspondent/principal to ensure they are aware of the bill and can provide their feedback.

There needs to be widespread public debate on the draft bill with the views of schools, teachers, parents and the policy establishment taken into account to improve the draft legislation, before it becomes law.

Ashoka University at Sonepat and the Young India Fellowship

Ashoka University, a new, private, non-profit university, is coming up in Sonepat, in Haryana, about 100 km north of Delhi. It will have a greater focus on the humanities and the liberal arts.

Forget about chasing foreign universities to invest in setting up universities in India - there's plenty of money available within India to fund many many more such credible non-profit private universities. The HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal, ought to be aggressively courting Indian philanthropists and investors first more than foreign universities.

A recent story in Business World throws some light on Ashoka University.

To recreate their own experience of learning at US universities, a group of professionals have come together to set up a new university of liberal arts in India. Well known names in Delhi and Mumbai circles — Ashish Dhawan (ChrysCapital), Sanjeev Bikhchandani (Naukri.com), Pramath Sinha (9.9 Mediaworx), NV “Tiger” Tyagarajan and Vineet Gupta (Jamboree), among others, are part of the International Foundation for Research and Education (IFRE).

To be located in the Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Kundli, Sonepat, across 25 acres, Ashoka University has sought “private university” status from the Haryana government and will be not-for-profit. A total of Rs 50 crore has been paid for the land, and the first phase is expected to cost about Rs 200 crore. The  seed capital has been put up by the trustees, apart from donations from individuals.

Dhawan, senior managing director, ChrysCapital — who recently announced he was stepping down — plans to get into school education in a big way. However, with Ashoka University, the “idea is to offer a greater focus on languages, humanities and social sciences and to offer breadth rather than just depth as in the British system. Instead of studying one subject in depth for 3-4 years, the idea is to study many subjects across disciplines,” says Dhawan. He says it will offer courses and areas of study on the lines of universities such as Yale, Princeton and Amherst.

Here's some more info about Ashoka university as described by IFRE.

The International Foundation for Research & Education (IFRE) is a not-for-profit (Section 25 Company) that has been established with the vision to set up the Ashoka University – India’s first world class university. Over the last two years the team has grown in strength and added numerous academic and non-academic members from across the world to build an incomparable team of accomplished and committed individuals driven by the common motivation to give back to the country.

IFRE is also engaging with various reputed universities and schools in USA and Europe to firm up the scope for collaboration in building Ashoka University. A formal collaboration with the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) is already in place.

Addendum: From their detailed YIF brochure,

Initial funding commitments are already in place and the balance is being raised through endowments and debt.

Perkins Eastman, a globally renowned architectural firm, has been commissioned to design and develop a campus of the future and master planning is now under way. Construction is due to start in December 2011 and the campus is scheduled to be operational in July 2013. The application for grant of University status is under evaluation by the Goverment of Harayana. The University will start with two schools - Arts and Natural Sciences - in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania and other leading universities and schools of the world

IFRE, has also launched the Young India Fellowship (YIF), a fully-funded post-graduate fellowship programme. Those interested can apply now for The Young India Fellowship. The last date for submission of applications is December 15, 2011.

The Young India Fellowship (YIF) seeks to groom young women and men like you who will lead India through the 21st century. The YIF will bring together 50 emerging leaders from around India in a one-year residential post-graduate programme in our nation’s capital. We will launch you on your leadership journey by opening your mind to a rich and diverse set of subjects and perspectives, delivered by some of the finest teachers of our generation from around the world. In this cross-flow of ideas and inspired learning, we will encourage and mentor you to discover your own self, to understand your personal values, strengths and aspirations, and create a process for you to build a broad life-plan that will align who you are with what you do in life. It really doesn't matter who you are: whether you graduated in the arts, science, engineering or commerce, we are committed to helping you get to where you want to

Here's what they say about why they launched the Young India Fellowship.

India has a large number of gifted and deserving students who are unable to avail of a high-quality learning experience from reputed institutions in India or abroad due to financial or other constraints. YIF will reach out to such students.

Leading undergraduate programmes in India seem to focus too early on professional and specialized courses that tend to stifle the abilities of talented young minds to explore different perspectives and avenues. YIF is designed to rekindle the desire to learn and explore. The perceived value of a broad-based liberal arts education at the undergraduate level has declined over the years. This has compromised a well-rounded learning experience at the higher education level in India. YIF wants to bring liberal arts to the centre-stage of a more holistic learning experience.

New ideas and possibilities get created at the boundaries of various disciplines. YIF aims to showcase the power of a multi-disciplinary learning environment created by some of the best and most inspirational teachers from India and the world.

• Join 50 fellows from around India in the Founding Batch of Young India Fellows: study, work and learn with India’s best minds, carefully selected for their passion and leadership potential. Your batchmates will include engineers, scientists, accountants and lawyers, as well as those who have graduated with degrees in history, sociology, English literature, and the liberal arts.
• Take classes in a range of subject areas that cover anthropology to ethics, life sciences to climate change, and art appreciation to entrepreneurship. You will develop insights and a worldview on a broad set of core disciplines as well as on some of the most complex global challenges we face.
• Learn from some of the world’s most reputed faculty members drawn from the best universities and institutions around the world, and known for their outstanding teaching and research. The hand-picked YIF faculty will not only inspire you and help you learn how to learn, but also challenge you to be the best you can be.
• Get mentored by some of the best minds and role models with diverse backgrounds and experiences. From corporate leaders to social activists, from researchers to entrepreneurs, the YIF Council of Mentors will help you think through what you should do next in life and how.
• Be coached on life skills and develop your “whole person” through a portfolio of engaging leadership courses. You will take courses in writing and communication, learn numerical analysis, critical thinking and problem-solving, and train in business and entrepreneurship.
• Experience working in the real world through a year-long team-based consulting and research project created especially for the YIF. Whether for a major company or a start-up, for a university lab or an NGO, the Experiential Learning Module (ELM) will help you learn from doing.
• Receive a full scholarship of Rs 8 lakhs to cover the entire fee, boarding and lodging when you enter this prestigious fully-residential, full-time programme. And on completion, our experienced placement counselors will support and guide you in securing a career or higher-study opportunity in your area of choice.

The YIF is currently functioning out of Delhi now, but will shift to Ashoka University at Sonepat over time.

For the first three years the YIF is being co-located at the Sri Aurobindo Center for Arts & Communication (SACAC) campus, Sri Aurobindo Society in New Delhi.

From the 3rd year onwards the programme will be moved to the upcoming Ashoka University campus at the Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Sonepat, which is being planned as the hub for institutions of higher learning in the NCR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comparison of school education policy, structures, curriculum, assessment and teacher training across multiple countries

The International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive (INCA) has constructed very useful, detailed tables (pdf - 1 MB) comparing the following parameters relating to school education (K-12) across multiple countries:

1. General characteristics (population, unemployment, % of GDP spent on education through both public and private sources)
2. Levels of control and administrative organisation (at the National level, Second level, Third level, Institutional level)
3. National education aims (comparison of 22 different aims across all countries)
4. Timeline of recent education reforms  - listing the years when reforms were implemented in each of these countries relating to
   • Length of compulsory education
   • Promotion of pre-school education
   • Primary curriculum
   • Secondary curriculum
   • Standardised national assessment and examinations
5. Compulsory education (Starting age, Minimum school leaving age and Duration in years)
6. Educational phases (age-groups for Pre-school, Primary/basic, Lower secondary, Upper secondary education)
7. School structures - indicates whether
   • there is a uniform system of schools catering for all students, or
   • if there are distinct school types for students of different educational aptitudes, or
   • if there are both types of schools
8. Access (whether access to educational phases, including higher education, is automatic or subject to performance in school leaving certificates or other evidence of performance)
9. Internal grouping (whether classes are generally defined by age or by ability in different subjects or a combination of both)
10. Progression with phases (whether students automatically move to the next class or whether this is subject to their achieving certain minimum standards)
11. Primary curriculum (range of subjects covered without reflecting the content, status {compulsory or elective} or length of time for which a subject is studied)
12. Lower secondary curriculum (range of subjects covered up to the age of 15/16 without reflecting the content, the compulsory or elective status of a subject or the length of time for which the subject is studied)
13. National standardised assessment system (ages at which standardised national assessment takes place)
14. National examination or certification framework to mark the end of an educational phase (ages at which national certification/public examinations take place and whether examinations/certification are compulsory or essential for admission to the next phase)
15. Control and supply of school  textbooks
    • who produces textbooks (state or commercial bodies)
    • whether the State (or devolved authority) prescribes content etc. of textbooks
    • whether the State (or devolved authority) draws up a list of authorised textbooks
    • who selects textbooks for use in class
    • whether textbooks are provided free by the State (or devolved authority), or whether parents are required to buy them.
16. Steps to becoming a primary school teacher
    • The consecutive model: a programme of professional education training is undertaken once an undergraduate degree has been obtained.
    • The concurrent model: teacher training is combined with a degree which results in the award of a Bachelor of Education degree or similar.
    • The combined model: a joint degree in education and a specific subject.
    • Length of training (for the consecutive route includes the time taken to obtain a first degree and covers the period of on-the-job)
    • Duration of the probationary period
    • Registration (whether necessary or not)
17. Steps to becoming a lower secondary school teacher
    • The consecutive model: a programme of professional education training is undertaken once an undergraduate degree has been obtained.
    • The concurrent model: teacher training is combined with a degree which results in the award of a Bachelor of Education degree or similar.
    • The combined model: a joint degree in education and a specific
    • Length of training (for the consecutive route includes the time taken to obtain a first degree and covers the period of on-the-job)
18. Special educational needs teacher training - whether
    • Specialist initial teacher training, or
    • Post qualification specialisation, or
    • Special needs education part of initial teacher training
19. Recruitment incentives to encourage individuals to train as teachers (like payment of course tuition fees by the Government for primary or secondary education, or all subjects or certain shortage subjects)
20. Organising bodies responsible for initial teacher training
    • National Ministry: The Ministry of Education in each country which determines and funds broad policies dealing with the ‘national interest’.
    • Federal Ministry: State Ministry of Education, responsible for education in the specific state/province.
    • Statutory body: Body independent from government which was established by legislation.
    • Non-departmental public body: Body set up, sometimes under statute, to carry out specific functions on behalf of government. However, although non-departmental public bodies are government funded, they are not government departments or part of government departments.
    • Local authority: Regional education headquarters; the local arm of the Ministry of Education.
21. Organisation of school year (includes when the school year starts, the number of terms and length of main holiday, length of the school year in days, and the body responsible for organising the school year)
22. Organisation of the school week and day (teaching time per week, duration of teaching periods, start and end times of the school day, weekly holidays, and the body responsible for organising the school day and week).

This compilation provides an excellent overview of how school education is structured and managed in various countries. It would be worthwhile to compile all this information in one place for India as well. Without data, it is difficult to formulate and debate education policy in a meaningful manner. Compiling this data for the Indian context will be useful while debating education policy issues in India.

The International Review of Curriculum and Assessment Frameworks Internet Archive (INCA) is a U.K-based outfit that

provides descriptions of government policy on education in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA and Wales. It focuses on curriculum, assessment and initial teacher training frameworks for pre-school, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education in schools (3-19 age range).

Details about the Azim Premji University

I met my friend KS Viswanathan, the head of new initiatives at the Azim Premji Foundation (APF) a couple of days ago in Bangalore and asked him for some details about the Azim Premji University (APU). This is what I learnt from an informal chat with him.

• The APU will be an institution of excellence in the area of education to develop outstanding education thinkers & leaders, and also serve as a think tank for long-term education change and sustainable development. Akin to the IITs, AIIMS, IIMs and the NLSUI respectively focussed on Science & Technology, Medicine, Management and Law, the APU will in effect be an IIE focussed on Education.
• The APU's vision is to promote, conceptualize and create a paradigm shift through development of outstanding leadership, research, knowledge and ideas for education and allied development sectors.
• The objectives of the APU include
  • Creating Intellectual Capital: through research based theory and outstanding, creative and socially committed leaders and thinkers. Expand the frontiers of knowledge in education and allied disciplines
  • Practice informed by sound theory: Serve as a national education resource center and present an alternative authentic voice for educational and social change
  • Demonstrating models for effective development of teachers and education leaders
• The APU has been set up through a section 25 company and will be autonomous and self-funded with no dependency on funds from the Karnataka Government.
• The Azim Premji University Ordinance 2009, was passed by the Karnataka Government in November 2009.
• The APU is being set up on 50 acres of land in Sarjapur, near Bangalore. The land is being provided by the section 25 company, which is acquiring it directly from the owners.
• It will be a fully residential university.
• The APU will not be aiming to recover all its expenditure from tuition fees. Any budgetary gap between income and expenditure will be bridged by funds provided by Section 25 company being established by Azim Premji.
• The first students will join the university in 2011. The APU will start by offering masters level courses and eventually also run a Ph.D. program.
• Apart from the classroom lectures, the students at the APU will be required to do field work in schools as an integral part of their learning.
• The APU, in addition to developing education professionals and contributing to research will work towards strengthening the educational space by:
  • Increasing the public debate on alternative approaches towards educational excellence
  • Creating possibilities and opportunities to promote innovation and piloting of new ideas/approaches
  • Supporting state and central governments to move towards a quality education revolution
  • Serving as a resource centre for the country in the areas of education and development
  • Emerging as a centre of excellence in education policy and implementation

Reliance University on the anvil

So reports The Economic Times.

On November 17, when chairman Mukesh Ambani addresses Reliance Industries’ annual general meeting, he is likely to announce the group’s next foray: education.

India’s biggest business house is planning to launch a private university in line with the Ivy League institutions, says a company insider, though the contours are yet to be finalised.

....

According to an IDFC-SSKI report, Indians spend $50 billion annually on private education. The four segments of the education market — plus two, higher, vocational and supplemental — present a $80-billion opportunity by 2012. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, says a CLSA Pacific study.

“Mukesh envisions bringing global education to India. He will outline a road map for the business in the AGM speech,” says an official close to RIL who did not wish to be named. An RIL spokesman declined to comment.

....

Ditto Jaiprakash Industries, which is already running engineering institutes, while the London-listed mining giant Vedanta Group has announced a large university near Puri in Orissa. Those in the waitlist include Chennai-based Murugappa group and FMCG company Ruchi Soya.

This had to happen.

Kapil Sibal is away courting the foreign universities to get them to set shop in India. He should be courting Indian investors too and far more aggressively at that. An Indian university can get off the blocks much faster and we may know how to run it better. There's enough and more of money in India and the know how, experience and skills required to set up and run an university can easily be purchased acquired by an Indian entity. What we need most today is the vision, the largeness of outlook and the willingness to invest money. More importantly, to think big over the really long term, well beyond one's lifetime. While Mukesh Ambani and the others to come, have enough and more of the former, we will have to wait and see about the latter.

Listen to a description of Ezra Cornell's unreasonable vision to get a sense of how a self-made millionaire decided to invest his surplus into building the foundation for a university in the mid 19th century. His motto - "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any field of study" - speaks for his vision, and long-term outlook. The operative word is found. He probably knew his vision may not be achieved in his lifetime, but like all visionaries, he was envisioning the way things ought to be, rather than the way things could be in his day or lifetime. He didn't stop with the vision. He hired the right institution-builders and did enough and more to give it the momentum to keep going on and on. I'd say it's still work in progress.

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata is another example of such a visionary closer to home.   

Mr. Narayana Murthy, Mr. Lakshmi Mittal, Mr. Ambani, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal and others - are you listening? Azim Premji is already off the blocks.

The Azim Premji University, a pioneering initiative in India

The Azim Premji Foundation (APF) is planning to set up the Azim Premji University (APU) a private self-financing university in Karnataka that would undertake teaching, training and R & D in fields like elementary and secondary education,education management and education policy. The APF will provide the statutory endowment fund of Rs. 25 crores. The University, while based in Karnataka will open branches elesewhere in the country. The Azim Premji University Bill is to be introduced in the Karnataka Assembly in the upcoming session, says the The Economic Times.

According to Business Line,

• The University will be self-financed, with no financial grant or assistance from the State Government
  
• Implying that reservations could apply to this university, a note issued during the meeting said that while it would be "open to all classes, castes and gender, the Government of Karnataka can make special provisions".
  
• The Board of Governors will have two Secretaries holding the charge of the education departments, while the rest will be from outside the Government. The board will appoint auditors, lay down policies, review decisions of the university, approve the budget and decide, if necessary, on the winding up of the university. The Government reserves the right to intervene in the event of mismanagement, mal-administration and indiscipline, the note, explaining some of the clauses in the proposed Bill, said.
  
• The Governor of the State will be a visitor of the university. He can seek any information and clarifications and confer degrees and the minister for higher education will be pro-visitor (pro-chancellor).

Business Standard interviewed Dileep Ranjekar, the CEO of the APF, who throws more light on their plans for the APU.

Where do you plan to have the varsity?
If Karnataka finally passes the Bill, and empowers us to start the private university, then the location will be Bangalore.

What was the inspiration behind this concept?
The biggest issue that has actually promoted us to think about the varsity is 'why is that there is no university that is focussed on elementary education in the country'. We observed that we don't have people with professional backgrounds in this country to address issues pertaining to the education sector. Hence, this university will be very similar to the national law school which was launched primarily to create professional lawyers in the country. The university will engage itself in educating professionals who, in turn, will be required for building the capabilities of teachers and managers as educators. Besides, we intend to train people who will make policy decisions based on their knowledge about education.

What courses you plan to offer?
Other than creating trained educational professionals, we plan to offer a post-graduate (MA) programme in education initially. We will also launch several short-term courses which will actually be targeted at in-service development needs of education managers, teacher educators and teachers. The second important activity is research, because research is lacking in education in India. The university will focus sharply on research on several issues to understand how things works; what causes better learning; how do we develop better people and what makes an effective teacher. There are hundreds of such issues. It will also have some experimental labs as part of the university. We also intend to collaborate with a number of states across the country to help them through education resource centres.

Since it will be a self-financing university, will students bear the cost?
Essentially it will be borne by the students. But where the students can't afford, we will have a scholarship programme.

How much funding have you received from Azim Premji for the Foundation so far?
We have earmarked close to Rs 650 crore so far, and this has been entirely funded by Azim Premji. We work with the government and we leverage the funds which we spend. The leverage is very important because the state has really the strength. Because anybody else spending money on the education is going to be very minuscule. The Foundation works with the government which is responsible for schooling. We work with close to about 20,000 schools across the country.

Will the UGC recognise the courses being offered by the university?
The university that comes into existence through a state legislation, will automatically be a recognised university. We don't have to approach the UGC for this.

The APF website lists K.S. Viswanathan as the person in charge of the APU project. Viswanathan had outlined APF's thoughts on improving education in India and its current activities in an interview last January.

VP: What exactly is the Azim Premji foundation doing now in the school scene in Karnataka?

K.S.V: The Azim Premji foundation is focused on Rural Government Schools in the states. We work along with the State Governments in executing some of their priorities. Karnataka has over 45,000 Elementary Schools and 8,000 Education functionaries. However, the learning levels in these schools are very low.

The key objective of the Azim Premji Foundation is to significantly contribute to the Universalisation of Elementary Education in India that facilitates a just, equitable and humane society. After 7 years of operations driving this goal, the foundation has now identified Teacher, Education functionaries as well as Examination reforms as the three pillars as the major programs to pursue.

Teachers tend to teach what gets tested. Teachers are the key transformational agents in the class rooms. Education Functionaries play an important role on how a teacher is actually engaged in a class room. What is needed is a common shared Vision amongst the various stake holders in the Education System in the country. With these goals, the Azim Premji Foundation has been working with the State Government on various initiatives that will supplement their efforts in improving the quality of education in the state.

Our programs in the Karnataka Government is built around Examination reforms, Class room teaching learning process, Teacher training and preparation and Academic support for schools.

We started with Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) in North East Karnataka (the most backward economically and academically) in 2001. This was followed with the Learning Guarantee Program ( LGP) where we ran programs to assess the learning's in the class measured in terms of Competencies acquired in Maths, Language and Science in Class 2 and Class 4. Based on our findings, the Karnataka Government set up a special Organization, Karnataka State Quality Assessment Organization ( KSQAO). KSQAO is now running the LGP program across the state to assess the competency acquired in the Elementary Schools in the state. Currently, we are implementing Child Friendly School initiatives in 330 schools in Surpur block of Yadgir district in NE Karnataka to assess the impact of Community participation in School management, Teacher support system as well as LGP.

We are also running a Management Development Program for 8000 Education functionaries in the state.

VP: What does the Foundation do in other states?

K.S.V: We have extended the concept of Learning Guarantee Program in the few districts in the states of MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. We are also developing Child centric, self paced, interactive learning system using educational software in 18 languages including 4 tribal languages, to facilitate the unleashing of creativity in children.

In addition, in the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Pondicherry, we are working with the Governments to assess the impact of Technology led initiatives in Class room learning along with, as well as providing Academic and Pedagogic support to Schools . Our programs cover 13 States, 16000 schools and 2.5 Mn children.

VP: India currently has about 35 Million children "out of school" and about 157 Million children in the school. How are you trying to bring a balance between quantity and quality?

K.S.V: We have a unique challenge here. We need more schools to cover larger number of children in the country and at the same time, the quality of education in terms of school infrastructure, class room process as well as Teacher support system. Post the launch of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Universalisation of Elementary Education) program, there has been an improvement in the access to the school for the children in the rural areas. Today, close to 90 % of the children have an access to an elementary school within a distance of 3 Kms from their homes. However, in the process the quality of education has taken a beating. Other programs like Mid day meals, free text books etc have further enhanced the gross enrolment ratio in the schools to around 90%. This is good and welcome news with respect to quantity.

However, quality of education has emerged as the biggest concern in the elementary school system in the country. We have around 200 mn children in the age group of 6-14; out of who only 52% of them reach Class 8 and only 31% reach class 10.Even amongst these children, only 1/3rd of the children are able to read and write their names in their native language.

One of the main reasons for the higher drop out rate as well as low learning in the elementary schools, is the quality of class room process, Curriculum design and Teacher support system in addition to other socio economic factors. The good news is there is an increased awareness on these issues and there is a good focus from all concerned including NGO's like Azim Premji Foundation, Ministry of Education in the Central and in the state government to address these issues . It is a slow but a definite process towards improving the quality of education in the elementary schools.

VP: So what, according to you, are the key needs of elementary education today?

K.S.V: Elementary Education today requires a good Academic Support System, more accountability to all stake holders including the Community for learning outcomes as well as a common shared strategic perspective amongst all stake holders in the system. Making the Teacher's job more exciting, more important as well bringing more recognition to the teachers and the Education functionaries can change the way we look at the Elementary education system in the country.

We need more Action research in the challenges of the Elementary Education. There is also a need to revamp the teacher Education system in the country focused on Elementary schools.

The APF's strategy of addressing the challenge of universalisation of elemenatary education by improving the quality of teachers and the quality of the classroom learning process is an excellent one. Their idea of walking the talk and investing to set up an university focussed on teaching and education management is a welcome step. What is more, the APF's strategy of working closely with the Government, indeed partnering with them, to leverage their strengths and complement them with the APF's own strengths is very well conceived. As Dileep Ranjekar points out, the challenge of educating all our children is a challenge of scale. No private player can match the scale of the Government's efforts. The Government has a crucial role to play. Ranjekar's choice of the word "leverage" is apt in this context. The APF's efforts (backed by its Rs. 650 crore investment - no mean sum in itself, albeit just a drop compared to the Government spending on education) can provide a multiplier effect to the Government's own investments and lead to huge improvements in teaching and learning in Government schools. By working closely with the Government (the Policy Planning Unit in the Dept. of Education in Karnataka is staffed by Government officials as well as staff from the Azim Premji Foundation) and offering the Government substantial control over the running of the proposed APU, the APF is also pre-empting the possibility of any standoffs with future Governments, run by other administrations.

The APF's initiatives in area of Education Management are described on their web site. One aspect of Education Management that doesn't find a mention in their list, but deserves attention is the economics of running schools. The challenge will be to keep fees as low as possible and affordable to the masses, yet find the ways and means to delivery a high quality education in a self-sustaining manner year on year. I hope the APF is working on this too.

The APU is likely to be the first of many more such universities likely to be set up in the coming years. Just as Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata provided the seed investment to set up the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore (still knowns as Tata Institute to Bangloreans) a 100 years ago, I can see a time not before long when we will have more such universities spawned by India's successful and farsighted business leaders. Imagine an Infosys University, a Mittal University, a Mahindra University, a Tata University, a Birla University ,a Reliance University, a HCL University, a TVS University, a Bharti University, a Bajaj University, an ITC University, an ICICI University, a HDFC University, and many more dotting the country over the next decade. Just the thought of the impact they could have, with each of them specialising in different areas, sends a frisson of excitement down the spine. It took almost 13 years, from 1896 when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata wrote to Lord Reay about the creation of a national university, to 1909 when the Government of India issued the vesting order for the institute, for the Indian Institute of Science to see the light of day. Azim Premji has shown that it will take much less time today from idea to reality.

Liberalise education - do away with the Education Raj

In an article in the Economic Times (April 18, 2005), Prof. Pankaj Jalote of IIT Kanpur writing in the context of the recent Supreme Court decision derecognising over 100 private universities in Chattisgarh, argues for liberalising higher education and doing away with the Education Raj.  Here is what he said.

On the face of it, this concern for the quality of education is well place. But experience has shown that quality can't be ensured by legislation or the government deciding who can produce quality goods or services. If that were true, we would have had high quality in the License Raj.

Quality comes, first and foremost , by the consumer of the good or service demanding it. And the consumer can demand when there are choices available to him, so that he can punish poor quality by switching. Hence, multiplicity of sources and abundance of supply are essential to ensure quality. To allow the consumer to take an informed decision, there has to be information available about the good or service. With information and competition, the consumer is smart enough to make good choices. This is particularly true in the area of higher education, where, by definition, the consumer is already quite well educated and ambitious.

The current set-up aims to control education quality by giving out licenses to those the government sees fit to provide education. When there are licenses, distrotions naturally come. Even the rules for university affiliation are like licenses, and are often cornered by people with political connections. However, there are no mechanisms to ensure that information on universities or colleges is available to students and their parents. So, we have a reversal from the desired situation - in supply, where the government shouldn't play an active role, it is very active; and in ensuring that sufficient information is available, where perhaps only the government can play the necessary role, it is doing little.

A parallel can be drawn with the industrial sector. Earlier, we had the license system where who can produce wha,t and how much, was decided by the government. That situation as we know, was neither conducive to quality nor efficiency. Later the rules were liberalised and industry was freed. The results are here for all to see. Now, pretty much anyone can start a public company, but the company has to disclose relevant data to the shareholders, regulatory bodies and stock exchanges.

We need a similar liberalisation in education and the field of higher education should be thrown open. To ensure that only serious long-term players enter, a minimum investment (say Rs. 50 crores) should be stipulated before anyone can start a university. However, once in existence, the university must be obligated to file with a regulatory body (or equivalent) all the information needed by students and their parents, who are the main purchasers of the service. This will include information about the fees and other finances, about infrastructure and investments in it, faculty and their qualifications, on  and off-campus placements and the like. Basically all the information needed to make an informed decision.

The regulator can then ensure that the information is available publicly. By making the information public, students themselves will become the watchdog to ensure that the information is correct. Just ensuring that this information is available publicly will be a great service to young education seekers, who otherwise rely on gossip and touts to inform them about the quality of universities and colleges.

One should not confuse regulation with accreditation. The regulation structure is being suggested to ensure that information is provided by institutes and that the rules of the game are followed. Accreditation on the other hand, is a "seal of approval". It is like the ISI stamp provided to a product, or the ISO certification given to a plant. So a university can be UGC or AICTE accredited or not - but the quality of education they provide is not dependent on that accreditation. Just like the ISI mark is not necessary to produce a good, accreditation is desirable, but should remain voluntary.

I completely agree with Prof. Jalote on the need to liberalise higher education. I had argued in an earlier post that the government should only look to be the regulator (like TRAI or IRDA) and set the broad guidelines for all educational institutions to follow and then let independent rating agencies (like CRISIL, ICRA and CARE) evaluate each educational institution and publicly announce its ratings of all institutions to enable students to make informed decisions in their choice of educational institutions.

Prof. Jalote's idea of making it mandatory for all institutions to file periodic reports with regulator is an excellent one. These reports along with the ratings by the agencies will help students to separate the wheat from the chaff and the chaff will then slowly begin to disappear all by itself.

Rating of educational institutions in India by independent agencies - a working model to follow

There are three functions that the University Grants Commission is currently performing. The UGC acts as a

1. Regulator: It specifies the minimum quality and infrastructure norms that must be adhered to by all public universities (and now private ones too after the recent Supreme Court judgement), in the area of non-professional education.
2. Inspection/Rating Agency: It (through the The National Assessment and Accreditation Council, which has been established by the UGC) periodically inspects the universities for their compliance with the regulations/norms and rates them with a rating (on a scale of A++ to C) that certifies if the university is up to the "mark" or not.
3. Disburser of Government Grants: It disburses government grants to universities by inviting proposals for grants from different universities.

Since it is one and the same organisation, the UGC, that currently performs all these three functions, there is a lot of scope for inefficiency and misuse of its discretionary powers. The power to withhold certification and/or government grants can be misused.

Here is a proposal to get around that.

The University Grants Commission, as its very name spells out, should focus solely on disbursing grants to universities.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) should be delinked from the UGC's control (it can function directly under the Ministry of Human Resource Development) and made the Regulator (of all non-professional education). As a Regulator, it shall specify the norms that universities need to follow and shall also accredit/certify the universities based on the ratings of the universities provided by the Rating Agency. Regulations for institutions offering professional  courses are already being specified by various other organisations like the All India Council of Technical Education (Engineering), Medical Council of India (Medicine), Pharmacy Council of India (Pharmacy), Bar Council of India (Law) etc..

The functions of rating and certifiying the universities could be done by independent Educational Rating Agencies that I had described in an earlier post.

If one looks at the  corporate/financial sector, the Registrar of Companies regulates all companies, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates all  publicly listed companies and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulates Banks and Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs). Since the financial sector deals with funds raised from the public, regulatory compliance is far more important and non-compliance is prosecutable. 

But neither SEBI nor RBI nor any other government agency provides any kind of rating or report on the business oulook, profits and losses or the creditworthiness of corporates, banks and NBFCs , on an ongoing basis. That job is left to independent rating agencies like CRISIL, ICRA or CARE who compete with each other for the custom of the corporates, banks and NBFCs, to rate them.

Just as the financial rating agencies seem to be doing a reasonable job in the financial sector and getting better over time in helping the public make informed choices on investing their money in corporates, banks or NBFCs, educational rating agencies can do the same for the education sector. An Educational Rating Agency can periodically review each institution's regulatory compliance across a range of parameters and publish the rating in the media to enable students to make informed choices.

Indeed, such a start has already been made in the education sector in India! The Directorate General of Shipping in a circular on Benchmarking/Grading of Maritime Training Institutes issued in 2004 details its initiative, why such an initiative is required and how it will work in the context of maritime training institutes. The full text of that circular is reproduced below.

Maritime training institutes in India were pre-dominantly in the Govt. sector prior to the year 1996. During 1996, maritime training was opened for private sector participation. Since then, more than 130 institutes are engaged in conducting various types of pre-sea and post sea courses.

At present, except for inspections by the Academic Councils, there is no other system of accurate evaluation of training institute. It has also been observed that there has been wide variation in the quality of training being imparted by maritime training institutes. It is therefore desirable that some rating of institutes be done by an independent and reputed body in order to maintain consistency of high quality of maritime training and education. This will not only lead to healthy competition among the institutes but will also improve their status and thereby increase the marketability of Indian seafarers from such rated institutes. In the increasingly competitive manpower supply scenario in International Shipping , excellence in maritime education and training is a necessity.

The Directorate is of the opinion that it is necessary that a system should be evolved where a common platform of benchmarking of various maritime training institutions across the country is in place. A publicly available and highly credible bench-marking exercise acts as a powerful tool for non-intrusive regulation and quality enhancement.

The Director General of Shipping has consulted various stake holders about this aspect. Three premier rating agencies viz. CRISIL, ICRA, & CARE were identified and they were advised to study and formulate the detailed scheme for benchmarking of training institutes. A series of presentations and discussions were held with these three rating agencies. While formulating their schemes, the rating agencies had interaction with some of the maritime training institutes and have also done a trial benchmarking of at least one training institute each. Their reports have been discussed in detail in Directorate and with the agencies. Based on these discussions and after fine tuning the proposals thus received, the Director General has approved the three rating agencies viz. CRISL, ICRA and CARE as approved agencies to undertake the benchmarking / grading/ rating of various maritime training institutes.

We are aware that being a new concept, various stakeholders specially the training institutes will have some curiosity and clarifications to seek. Basic issues along with their explanations are as under:

1. NEED FOR GRADING TRAINING INSTITUTES? A grading is an opinion expressed by an independent agency on the extent to which individual course offerings in maritime education meet the desired course objectives as stated by the Directorate General of Shipping in India (DGS) from time to time in its capacity as the regulator of maritime education. This opinion would be based on an assessment by the agency of the various aspects of the course offered, such as faculty, facilities, infrastructure etc. to the extent applicable for the course being assessed.


2. GRADING OF INSTITUTES AND COURSES: The grading would be directly applicable to the courses offered by any training institute. This grading for individual courses would be used as an input to arrive at a grading for the institute. It may be pointed out here that the grade assigned to individual courses offered by the same institute may differ substantially from one course to another.


3. AGENCY FOR GRADING: DGS has put in place a panel of three agencies CRISIL Ltd. (CRISIL), ICRA Ltd. (ICRA) and Credit Analysis & Research Ltd. (CARE) for this grading exercise. These entities have a long track record in the area of credit rating in India and have also been active in grading exercises for other service providers like hospitals, schools etc.. Institutes can approach any of these agencies for grading.


4. BENEFITS OF GRADING IN MARITIME EDUCATION? Though the grading exercise has the largest benefits for students and the institutes, it also has potential benefits for employers and even DGS. These benefits are briefly laid out below :

   FOR STUDENTS : A credible grading of courses would significantly aid students in their decision of choosing an institute for a particular course. This is because the grading would seek to assess the relative quality of similar course offered across various institutes. Moreover, to the extent that the course offered would be benchmarked against international best practices as well, students would get a fair idea about the course quality against global standards too. This would be useful for both pre-sea students, who might have inadequate knowledge of the industry, as well as seafarers preparing for post-sea certifications.

   FOR INSTITUTES : The grading would be a potent symbol of differentiation for institutes that conduct particular courses better than others. This would help these institutes in attracting more students from both within and outside India. The grading exercise would also involve extensive interaction of the grading agencies with the institutes and sharing of an assessment report with the institute which would provide a rationale for the grade assigned and feedback regarding areas of improvement.

   FOR EMPLOYERS : The grading of course offered would provide employers with a means of assessing relative quality of education imparted and refine expectations with regard to on-the-job performance of recruits. This would be particularly useful in courses which do not involve any external examinations.

   FOR DGS : The grading would be an additional input for DGS in regulating maritime education in the country. Moreover, it has the potential to serve as an effective tool for non-intrusive regulation of more than 100 institutes and encouraging a permeation of best practices across institutes. Further, if a system of quality education can be put in place, India could emerge as a global centre for excellence and cost-effective maritime education & training.

   
   
5. HOW WOULD THE GRADING BE INDICATED?: It is intended that course offerings would be graded on a five point scale from grade 1 (indicating high quality) to grade 5 (indicating below grading standards). The grade would be prefixed by the name of the agency responsible for assigning that grade e.g. a CRISIL assigned grade would read as CRISIL Grade 1, an ICRA assigned grade would read as ICRA Grade 1 and a CARE assigned grade would read as CARE Grade 1. Grade 1 will effectively mean outstanding, Grade 2 - Very Good, Grade 3 - Good, Grade 4 - Satisfactory and Grade 5 - Below Grading Standards.


6. FOR HOW LONG WOULD AN ASSIGNED GRADE BE VALID?: The grading agencies would review all assigned grades periodically so as to ensure that the grade remains current at all points in time. However, the grading for the institute will be valid for a period of 2 years from the grade assigned . The rating agencies will however collect information and make periodical verification after completion of one year in order to have continuation of the grading.


7. WHAT ARE THE PARAMETERS CONSIDERED IN THE GRADING EXERCISE?: The broad framework for grading has been devised jointly by the three grading agencies under the guidance of DGS. The critical parameters include (to the extent applicable for various courses) the quality of faculty, quality of infrastructure, & training facilities the quality of the teaching process, performance of graduating students, the management quality and track record, placement of passing out students and an assessment of the operational / financial sustainability of the institute. DGS has prepared an inventory of critical factors to be assessed as a guide to the grading agencies. Copy enclosed as Annex-A. However, the agencies are free to devise their methods of assessment of these factors as well as expand the list of assessed factors. Therefore, the details of assessment by each agency may differ in their approach but the standards of assessment, breadth of factors assessed and the weightages assigned to individual factors in the overall assessment shall be similar. However, to ensure that the end result of the different agencies can be compared when they are grading similar Institute, the rating agencies are given various heads for grading with detailed parameters for grading.


8. HOW DOES AN INSTITUTE GET ITS COURSE OFFERINGS GRADED?: The institute has to first contact one of the grading agencies and mandate it for the grading exercise. The agency would then follow the process outlined below.
   • Seek information required for the grading from the institute concerned.
   • On receipt of required information, have a preliminary discussion with the institute's management.
   • Have discussions with institute director and faculty at the institute location
   • Visit the institute and study the facilities and the actual education and training procedures.
   • Discuss details of the education process with the faculty / laboratory training facilities/infrastructure/ supervisors / students/trainers.
   • Final analysis based on the above discussion, documents and other information provided by the institute.
   • Prepare an analytical assessment report
   • Present the analysis to a committee comprising senior executives of the concerned grading agency. This committee would discuss all relevant issues and assign a grade
   • Communicate the grade to the institute along with an assessment report outlining the rationale for the grade assigned.
   
   The address of these three grading agencies are as under:

   a. Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited, CRISIL House, 121-122 Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri (East) Mumbai - 400 093 - Mr. S. Venkataraman, Tel. No. 56913038 / 5691 3001.
   
   b. Credit Analysis & Research Ltd., Kalpataru Point, 2nd Floor, Kamani Marg, Sion (East) Mumbai - 400 022-Mr. Shri P.N. Sateesh Kumar, Head-Advisory Services Division Tel.No. 56602871 -75
   
   c. ICRA Ltd., Kailash Building, 4th floor, 28, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110001-Mr. Amul Gogna, Executive Director, Tel.No. 011-23357940-50/ 011-23357014 / 011-23355293

 

9. WHAT CAN THE INSTITUTE DO IF IT IS NOT SATISFIED WITH THE GRADE ASSIGNED BY THE GRADING AGENCY?: The grading agency would provide the institute with a written report outlining the logic for the assigned grade. The institute can contest the analytical conclusions made by the agency in the rationale. In case some material information is not included in this analysis, the agency would repeat the grading process. In case the institute is still not satisfied, it can go to another agency for a second opinion.


10. DOES THE INSTITUTE HAVE TO ACCEPT THE GRADE ASSIGNED?: The institute can choose not to accept the grade. In this case, the grade would be kept confidential. However, once the grade assigned is accepted, it would be disseminated to the public. Also, the institute would be obliged to facilitate the process of review of the grade from time to time for as long as is indicated in question six. Further, any revision of an outstanding grade in this period would also need to be publicly disclosed.


11. WHO PAYS FOR THE EXERCISE? WHAT WOULD THE FEE BE?: The institute would pay for the exercise. The fee charged by different agencies would depend on their respective processes of assessment. The Directorate is not deciding on the fee to be charged from the institute; similarly, the Directorate will not interfere in the fee settled by the Agency and the institute.


12. IF THE INSTITUTE PAYS FOR THE GRADING, HOW DOES THE RATING AGENCY MAINTAIN ITS INDEPENDENCE?: While the institute-fee model naturally creates a potential conflict of interest (that could lead to higher than warranted grading), experience in other areas where grading has been used indicates that the existence of this conflict does not by itself lead to lax grading standards. This is because reputation of the grading agency would play a crucial role in its perceived value. · Although the institute would pay for the grading, the student would use it. Like any other product or service, the 'value' of the grade would depend entirely on the perceptions of the user - in this case, the student and/or the sponsor employer. Consequently, users would 'buy' only those gradings that they find 'valuable'. · Student perceptions, in turn, would be based on the credibility of the past gradings assigned by each rating agency. Lax standards by any rating agency would lead to a loss of credibility and an erosion of the 'value' associated with the gradings assigned by that agency. This would reduce demand for gradings from that agency, consequently affecting its revenues. Thus, even though the institute would pay for the grading exercise, grading agencies would have a strong incentive to maintain their independence due to the reputation risk arising out of lax standards.


13. DOES DGS HAVE A ROLE IN THE GRADING EXERCISE?: No. The DGS does not play any role in the assessment made by the rating agency. The grading is intended to be an independent and unbiased opinion of that agency. The role of DGS is that of a facilitator of the grading process whenever required.


14. SAMPLE SIZE ADMINISTRATING THE GRADINGS: Rating agency shall take note of adequacy of sample size in order to assess the Maritime Training Institute to have holistic and complete picture.


15. BENCHMARKING PROCESS TO BE PART OF QUALITY MANUAL SYSTEM: The institute which opt for grading/benchmarking, should include this aspect in their QMS so that this can be reviewed during their internal /external audits


16. WHETHER THE GRADING IS MANDATORY: The Directorate is aware that the concept of benchmarking is new and should be introduced gradually. With this intention this has been discussed on various occasions for more than a year. To begin with the grading is not being made mandatory and it is expected that the institute shall come forward for benefit of all stakeholders for grading of their institutes. However, for approval of new institute / new course / expansion of capacity due additional weightage shall be given if the institute is graded. After review of the progress and the feedback received the Directorate shall consider whether to make benchmarking mandatory for the training institute at an appropriate stage.


17. DISPUTE: The dispute between the rating agency and the institute will have to be settled between themselves only and Directorate will not involve itself in the process. All institutes are requested to get themselves graded and the grading may be displayed in their advertisement.

An Educational Rating Agency for both non-professional and professional education would help the students and the employers in making informed choices about the quality of education in each institution, akin to what is currently the case for maritime training institutes. Any interested private party should be allowed to set up an independent Rating Agency. As the Directorate General of Shipping argues, though the Rating Agencies will be paid by the insitutions it rates, they will be able to function independently and rate institutions objectively since each Agency will value its reputation and credibility.

It should be made mandatory for all universities and educational institutions (both public and private) to get themselves rated by an Educational Rating Agency. This will ensure that all fly-by-night operators like those who exploited the Chattisgarh legislation will have no chance to cheat the public and this will also put pressure on the public universities and force them to work towards all-round improvement. It will generate healthy competition amongst all the universities. Most importantly it will eliminate the Regulator's control on the rating process.

The is a sizeable business opportunity for Educational Rating Agencies, given the size of the higher education sector and its rapid growth. If the concept of ratings is extended to the the school education sector too, that will be a huge market for the Rating Agencies. So enough players will be interested in this space and over time a handful of strong rating agencies are likely to emerge, like CRISIL, ICRA and CARE have done in the financial sector. Indeed CRISIL, ICRA and CARE have already begun to expand into the education sector by working with the Directorate General of Shipping.