Higher education in India
India has a publicly funded higher education system that is the third largest in the world. The main governing body at the tertiary level is the University Grants Commission, which enforces its standards, advises the government, and helps coordinate between the centre and the state. Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by 15 autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
As per the latest 2011 Census, about 8.15% (98.615 million) of Indians are graduates, with Union Territories of Chandigarh and Delhi topping the list with 24.65% and 22.56% of their population being graduates respectively. Indian higher education system has expanded at a fast pace by adding nearly 20,000 colleges and more than 8 million students in a decade from 2000–01 to 2010–11.
As of 2020, India has over 1000 universities, with a break up of 54 central universities, 416 state universities, 125 deemed universities, 361 state private universities and 159 Institutes of National Importance which include AIIMS, IIMs, IIITs, IISERs, IITs and NITs among others. Other institutions include 52,627 colleges as government degree colleges, private colleges, standalone institutes and post-graduate research institutions, functioning under these universities as reported by the MHRD in 2020. Colleges may be Autonomous, i.e. empowered to examine their own degrees, up to PhD level in some cases, or non-autonomous, in which case their examinations are under the supervision of the university to which they are affiliated; in either case, however, degrees are awarded in the name of the university rather than the college.
The emphasis in the tertiary level of education lies on science and technology. Indian educational institutions by 2004 consisted of many technology institutes. Distance learning and open education is also a feature of the Indian higher education system, and is looked after by the Distance Education Council. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is the largest university in the world by number of students, having approximately 3.5 million students across the globe.
Some institutions of India, such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc),Indian Agricultural Research Institute , Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Institute of Good Manufacturing Practices India (IGMPI), University of Delhi (DU), University of Calcutta (CU), University of Madras, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have been globally acclaimed for their standard of education.
Indian higher education is radical in terms of accessibility, and needs radical reforms in standards, giving value, and pacing. A focus on enforcing both streamlining and holding higher standards of curriculum with the help of international academic publishers for transparency and reducing inequalities characterised by globalisation; making the vocational and doctoral education pipeline value-oriented and innovative; personalisation of the sector for students to gain immediate and valid transferable credentials in their own pace (e.g., Massive open online course, digital learning, etc.); empowering students to seamlessly transition in and out of both education and the workforce as needed while providing continuous learning experience blocks at each stages of education opportunities for equipping the individuals with essential knowledge building blocks for comprehensive understanding of the skill providing courses; establishing a robust institutional accountability in service delivery and addressing related complexities; collaborating with international standardization agencies to ensure that students receive global recognition for their educational certificates, for guaranteeing employers that the educational content aligns with what esteemed universities worldwide employ, etc. are fundamental changes that are critical in attaining both international and national competency. The rise of interest in the IT sector and engineering education in India has confined students to cramming knowledge, providing them with fewer opportunities to explore and develop their passions with modern educational elements like cooperative education and work-based training. Furthermore, by the end of the four-year degree, much of what students study in the initial years becomes irrelevant or subject to knowledge erosion. Many foreign countries view the traditional degree pathway, which compels students of working age to halt their careers for half a decade to earn a degree in a digitized academic environment, as less effective and unsuitable for a growing economy. Especially in a world where 40% of the global population was connected to the Internet in 2015 through 25 billion devices, and where in STEM fields, "micro-certificates" are a required aspect of lifelong learning to stay relevant; many of these micro-certificates or learning blocks either function as a start of a base of knowledge or add on to an existing base. For example, most programming courses only take 3 months to learn in an academic setting and that too along with other subjects, and are the only requirement of base knowledge for springboard programming related tech jobs. Jim Heckman, a Nobel laureate and professor of economics at the University of Chicago, asserts that education should be encapsulated by the "6Cs" - critical thinking, content communication, collaboration, creativity, character, and citizenship. To broaden students' worldviews and instill values such as creativity, character, and citizenship, India needs to focus on introducing elective pathways to liberal arts education. This will facilitate the development of personal management skills, passions, creativity, and foster natural and concerted personal growth.