Legally non-profit, for-profit in reality
Over the past two decades, the spurt in demand for higher education in India has meant that public institutions could no longer play a lone hand. The government is clearly unable to accommodate the volume of students who now seek to pursue higher education in India. To top it all, there is growing dissatisfaction with the public education system. Thus, the growth of the private sector in higher education was only a matter of time and, indeed, its rise has been spectacular in the 21st century.
There is no doubt that private institutions have allowed more students to pursue courses of their choice. But access to quality private education comes at a cost. The expense incurred by students and their families is a binding constraint. This can be addressed by resorting to student-based funding. Though direct government support to students enrolled in private institutions is currently negligible, it is likely to increase in future. This could take care of equity implications of private growth.
However, the strongest opposition to private growth stems from the fear of commercialisation. The private sector’s stress on commercial success over academically strong institutions leads to criticisms about quality, particularly since many legally non-profit institutions appear to be for-profit in reality.
Unsurprisingly, then, the extent and form of regulation is vigorously debated. This debate is particularly intense as deeply held stateoriented beliefs clash with the overall politicaleconomic trend of privatisation. In India, private higher education has grown in a policy vacuum, unlike countries such as Malaysia (even China) where the government took measures to enable and promote private growth. In India, unexpected growth in the private sector led the government to impose regulations. Such policies obviously have ambiguities; thus judicial interventions have become the order of the day.
Moreover, there has been a lack of clarity in the attitude towards private higher education. It is viewed with suspicion. It is also argued that encouraging private provision would dilute the government’s constitutional responsibility.
This ambivalence needs to be understood in the context of Indian polity. Political parties are cautious in their support for private higher education. It is only in recent times that there is growing acceptance of the private sector’s role. The government, traditionally wary of private participation, now sees it as inevitable for expanding opportunities in education.
Having come this far, the moot question is to ensure quality of such education— profit or non-profit. The country needs a graded, transparent and participatory regulatory framework to ensure this. A coherent policy framework that recognises the complementarities of public and private higher education and ensures the healthy growth of both is required.
Pawan Agarwal is a civil servant & author.
