‘Combining skill education with higher education will improve employability’

The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) established in 1925 with just seven member universities now has more than 1,000 universities as its members, 100 years later. From representing Indian universities at various forums and hand holding them for improving the quality of higher education, AIU assists the universities in the recognition of their degrees, diplomas, and examinations by both domestic and international institutions. AIU plays a crucial role in strengthening and promoting Indian higher education. Millennium Post catches up with Dr Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, AIU, at her New Delhi office. A Fulbright scholar and a topper in MSc and PhD in Agricultural Statistics from IARI, New Delhi, Dr Mittal has dedicated over three decades to the higher education sector. She is the second woman to serve as Secretary General of AIU in its history of 100 years. In this interview, she discusses how AIU is working to improve the quality of higher education in India and the future path for the organisation. Excerpts:

The landscape of Indian higher education has changed significantly due to rapid technological growth, rising incomes, and a growing population. What role does the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) play to improve the quality of education in India?

AIU is an institution, which is now almost 100-years-old. We were established in1925 as an Inter-University Board with only seven universities. And now, it has slowly grown and right now we are the largest university network in the world with 1,023 universities as our members. This includes 16 international members, which we call as associate members. Since the beginning AIU has been playing an active role in promoting quality higher education.

AIU does a lot of academic and research work and contributes to policy making in higher education. It emphasises on the holistic development of the students. It organizes many sporting events and youth festivals for the students of universities and colleges at zonal, national and international level. More than five lakh students participate in these events. Recently, at the World University Games held in Chengdu, China, our universities received 26 medals, an achievement which was appreciated by none other than the Prime Minister of India. The Government of India has also mandated AIU to do the equivalence of foreign degrees with the Indian degrees. Apart from that we do research conventions for students. We have also established capacity building centres for the faculty and administrative staff especially on use of technology for teaching, research and governance. In a nutshell, we are working towards the holistic development of not only the students and teachers but also the capacity building of vice-chancellors (VCs), especially the newly appointed VCs.

Your parent office was University Grants Commission (UGC).

Yes, I joined UGC in 1990. UGC is a statutory body, which is established by the Parliament of India. It is a regulatory body. For almost 30 years, I worked with UGC and went on deputation to serve as the founder Vice Chancellor of Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya established by Government of Haryana in 2008 for two terms. After that I came back to UGC as it was my parent office. When I was in UGC, I was mostly involved with policy, planning and formulation of regulations. In the university, as VC, we were into university administration and implementing policies and regulations while imparting quality education and promoting research. Now, I am working with AIU. It’s not a regulatory body but a facilitating body. We help the universities in implementing National Education Policy (NEP) and the mandated regulations. We basically hand hold them and facilitate them like a mother.

Recently, IIT Delhi opened an international campus in Abu Dhabi, and the University of Southampton will open in Gurgaon by 2025. While this boosts India’s global presence and also helps in internationalisation of education, some educationists worry that foreign universities might make education more expensive in India. How can we ensure a fair balance between foreign and Indian institutions?

Australia’s Deakin University and the University of Wollongong have already set up campuses in Gujarat’s GIFT city. Recently, the University of Southampton from the UK got a nod to set up a campus in Gurgaon. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) is promoting establishment of foreign campuses in India and Indian campuses abroad. For instance, IIT Madras has set up its offshore campus in Zanzibar. We want our quality higher educational institutions to go abroad as well as welcome quality foreign institutions to India. As far as the expense is concerned, right now in our higher education system, we have around 4 crore students. What is the number of students that the existing two campuses are catering to? Maybe not more than 500 students? So, the number of students these foreign universities in India will cater to will be very minimal compared to the total student population in India. So, I don’t think there should be any fear in the minds of Indian universities. Rather, a student from India who is spending a very high fee to go abroad for studies will now get the chance to earn the same degree at home, on Indian soil, and save a lot of money.

A lot of foreign exchange for India will be saved, and these foreign campuses can also help our Indian universities through collaborative agreements including curriculum and faculty exchange and research partnerships. So, there may be a lot of knowledge and resources sharing between Indian universities and foreign universities if these campuses are in India. It will be a win-win situation for everyone.

But every year, isn’t a large number of students still going abroad to pursue higher education? Does this mean India is also facing a considerable brain drain?

Every year, around 10 to 12 lakh students leave India to study in the foreign universities, with the primary destinations being the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, Europe, and the UAE. In contrast, the number of students who come to India is around 48,000. So, there is a huge gap. NEP 2020 has given a lot of impetus to the internationalisation of higher education. As part of this, foreign campuses are being established in India and Indian institutions are setting up campuses abroad. Permission has been granted for joint degrees, dual degrees and twinning programs. UGC has issued enabling regulations to promote and expedite this. Soon, we will see more and more foreign students coming to our country to pursue studies, thus making India the destination for affordable quality education.

Although the number of universities, whether central, state, or deemed, has increased, there is a growing concern about the decline in the quality of education.

(Cuts in) That is why the Government of India has made university accreditation mandatory. If a university is accredited with, say, ‘A’, ‘A+’, or ‘A++’ grades, students can be assured that they are not enrolling in a mere degree-printing university. We are trying to control the quality of education through accreditation mechanisms. There are also ranking systems in place, both Indian and international, to help students identify which institutions are good and which are not.

One way to assess the quality of education is through research publications. In this regard, we rank fourth in the world, with an ever increasing number of research publications and PhD scholars.

However, the main concern for many remains employability. It has been pointed out that many of our students are not employable. The NEP 2020 has taken this into account and placed a lot of emphasis on skilling the Indian students. In many foreign countries, a large portion of the population is skilled, and students receive skill-based education, which has not been the case in India. This is being corrected now by the present government. The government has come out with National Higher Education Qualification Framework, National Skill Education Qualification Framework and National Credit Framework. All three are integrated, allowing students to combine skill development with higher education. For example, if you are pursuing a bachelor’s programme, you can also take skill courses apart from academic courses. If you come from a skill-based background, you can directly enter higher education based on recognition of prior learning. This integration of skill education and higher education aims to eliminate the employability problem.

Do you think the progress has been satisfactory?

It will take some time. The employability is also impacted due to many other factors like the rise of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). For instance, our students used to have many job opportunities in the USA for lower-level programming positions. However, with AI now handling those lower-level programming tasks, our graduates are no longer hired for those roles. So, many employability challenges are also arising due to the shifting paradigm in higher education. We need to evolve with the time and prepare graduates for the new job roles that will emerge in future.

MEMBERSHIP

* Present membership- 1023

* Central universities - 50

* State universities - 409

* Deemed universities - 118

* Private universities - 368

* INI-IITs/NITs/IISERs - 62

* Associate members (international members) - 16