Liberalizing Higher Education
January 14th, 2007
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Montek Singh Alhuwalia is right on the money,
Stop subsidising higher education and increase the fees. That is the recipe of Montek Singh Alhuwalia to improve the quality of education. The Deputy Chairman of India’s Planning Commission was addressing students at the University of Mumbai’s 150th convocation ceremony on Sunday.[link]
In a country which is unable to provide quality primary education to millions of kids, subsidizing higher education makes no sense at all. Unfortunately, there is a strong sense of entitlement attached to higher education-somehow the government is obliged to provide for college education. As with all subsidies, it has acquired a logic of it’s own and it is extremely difficult to force this change.
There is of course a second, equally strong argument for increasing fees. Only this will allow the institutions to have at least some degree of autonomy so that they can chart their policies independent of day to day political interference. Also, this would help them expand facilities and truly become world class institutions. In the current set up, U.G.C funding is just about enough to pay the non-plan expenditure, mainly salaries. This ensures that the vociferous unions keep their mouth shut. The capital demands which are essential for the growth of the institutions are largely unmet.
Interestingly enough, Planning Commission has suggested that money allocated to education be halved, so how will government attempt to fund ambitious primary education projects?
The government may talk of its commitment to elementary education, but when it comes to walking the talk, it turns to you and me. It is likely that in the next fiscal, a larger portion of government spending on elementary education will be met by the 2% education cess.[link]
There is a much better way. As Sam Pitroda recently said, privatize B.S.N.L. This alone will net the government close to 80,000 crores.
What is the government doing in telecom industry anyway?
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