Broad questions for education in India.

Ken Robinson, the renowned education reformist, in his talk at TED, emphasises on three aspects of the failing system of education, viz.,  education inflation, educating out of creativity and failure in educating for the future.

Inflation? Yes. Inflated expectation by the society, industry, institutions, teachers, parents and even the student.  Yes. Our schools are killing our creativity. And, in his speech, he clearly remarks about how students who begin their education this year will retire in the year 2070, we do not know how the world will be 5 years hence, how then are our educational institutions preparing these children to live successfully in the year 2070.

There are two reasons on why we cannot dispute the fact there is something called an education inflation. 

1) There are more qualified people than there are jobs. Hence, industry picks either the best or even gets audacious to pick from the "over-qualified" candidates.

2) To make up for a lack of interest, investment and infrastructure required by the industry to train their own team of specialized workers, they instead look for 'Ready-made' employees and  keep raising the qualification requirements. This results in a industry-wide inflation of hiring over qualified people. 

The competition among institutions - even systems of education -  has led to a compression of what can be crammed into the little impressionable minds. We have created a system that meets only the economic imperative of the world.  

Hence, we are in a hurry to push as much information as possible into the young minds. We are putting into the young minds based on what best they can absorb regardless for their interest. Thereby creating a system that is eager to label a whole lot of students as 'uneducationable'. A system that marginalizes them and deems them more fit for so called menial jobs. 

In their competition to show that their institution is the best, the institutes themselves take only the best and employ a filtering system. Creating a privilege system rather than a educating system. 

Ideal University:

An university should be built with the needs of the society in mind and not cater to meet the demands of the economy alone. We are not creating units out of an assembly-line and hence our education system should be able to cater to the "uniqueness" of every student. It must admit every student who applies and gives them the education that interests them. Each university should cover the whole gamut of education from vocational, arts, science, management, law, commerce, economics, history, medical. We have to expand on traditional vocations (which were designed to fulfill an Industrial age demand) and create specialized vocations suited to this time.

With this as the main goal, our universities should move towards models such as below:

The non-profit Model:

Education can and never should be for-profit. But still, why is education so costly? If an institution is run by a public trust, only 50% of the cost of running the institution should be collected by the university as fee. 25% should be through endowments. 25% should be through public or government funds. Can there be a cross-subsidy model? All effort should be targeted to make education cheaper, without compromising on quality. 

Can there be a separate Education Fund of the government which will be paid into by each corporate to fulfill its CSR obligations which can be then used to fund education. 

Self-sustainable model Vs. Non-profit model:

A good institution has to be self-sustainable. But can an institution be made truly self-sustainable with a condition of acting as not for profit. If a group of professors and students work and create a patent using the resources of the institution, then, the royalties of the institution can make it self-sustainable. But under the law they cannot earn profits as it would make them lose their non-profit status. Can any institution guarantee a system where the royalties are just enough so that they do not create a profit?  Because of this, there is a counter intuitive movement in the market that has not given any incentive to institutes to do more research? Leading to the current situation where institutions are not interested in doing any path breaking research. Even in the few institutions that conduct researches, they have shifted to just teach how to do research without doing any research. Duh! 

So, what is our education system doing - Educating the youth or Creating machines out of humans?

The prerogative vs responsibility

When it comes to admission, these institutions unilaterally hold the prerogative to choose their wards. But when it comes to delivery, include a 3 pronged approach of Institution, Student and Parent. Excuse me! Dear Institutions. Please think. Think hard and introspect. What is your role?

Is your role to choose the best and give them tools to clear exams? 

Can you ever think of yourselves as an institution that provides Knowledge & Education? How are you involving the parent and the student in a consultative, facilitation process of providing them with the tools to learn to the best of their abilities.

Can we really counsel and bring about a change in individual goals and objectives. Can you make that reluctant student(who comes to school because it is a social obligation) to an enthusiastic student (who seeks knowledge because he sees it as enlightening, empowering & life saving) ?

The creative talent of the candidates is never tested. Our education system has become demotivating and retrograde that the whole of purpose of education has been defeated.

Testing for Knowledge

The whole system is geared to give enough information and training on how to beat exams which defeats the very purpose of examinations. The purpose of examination is to provide a mechanism to evaluate how much a student has grasped the teaching.

But today, that purpose has been defeated and the student is given training on how to beat the exam, even giving them a list of questions that will be asked. How stupid can the system get. Why, because it is ultimately the reputation of the teacher and the institution and these exams reflect on their ability to give knowledge.

Teachers form an integral part of the education system. On one side, the system is down in the dumps while on the other, the spirit of the system - the teachers who need to stimulate the thinking capacity are themselves in a bad shape.

Pecking order

As soon as a batch of students graduates, the high performers are picked up by the industry and given fancy salaries and employed. The rest, have no choice but to get themselves better qualified and go for higher education. There too upon graduation, the best get picked by the industry. Of the residual people, some of them go for higher academics and end up choosing teaching. Then having some time in their hands, and to make some extra money, start doing research, publish meaningless papers and as academicians fail miserably in either providing a good education to their students or even motivating them to strive for excellence. There are even those after higher education  who do not find employment, who finally end up in a profession that was not even their primary field of knowledge. 

We really need to tap the potential of the bright candidates in reviving the teaching professions! We need Profs who can act as role models and kindle interest in the young minds.

How many Graduates (in each stream) should a nation produce? 

While no field has a dearth of scope, we still have to ask this question? Do we need scores and scores of engineers graduating every year making unemployment plausible? We need to promote all fields equally and have regulations in place to prevent mushrooming of deemed universities that see an opportunity to make a business proposition out of a demand for a particular stream of education.

Is unemployment a problem of plenty or a problem of not planning? Has there been any scientific statistical analysis on the requirements in the market for each specialized stream of education for every stream of education? This has to be done on a priority basis. This should be the guiding principle on which UGC and others allot seats in institutions and allow established of deemed universities.

Of course not everyone who joins the course clears the course in flying colors, the pass percentage can also be given a weight-age to arrive at a total 'employable' graduates from a particular stream. Secondly, what happens the next year, how many new jobs will be created for the same stream and what will be the year-on-year requirement needs to be studied.

What will be the growth prospect of a person who joins employment. This will also help the institutes to invest properly in catering to the market demands and also help choose the right stream based on their interests. Students should be allowed to explore various streams instead of branding a few streams as more employable than the rest.

Government Employment:

How many 'economists' are employed by the government. How many graduates from Commerce, History, Economics, are employed in their core competency in each government department. Doesn't each Government department need specialists? There are at least 2500 ULBs and over 10,000 government offices that will each require one or more of the specialists. Even a chartered accountant, Statisticians. What about MBAs coming in as key administrators. Can we think of employing specialists  and more specialists. How many geologists are employed by the water authorities. Yes they are employed in Mining departments, but why not in water management? The Govt recruitment process needs an immediate revamp. There is no rational behind how the skills of the candidates are mapped to the job profile. Govt hires in masses and deputes in masses diluting the quality of the both Govt institution and the Individual's knowledge.


In summary, the education system should work towards imparting quality knowledge and stimulating the creative talent of the youth by reviewing the curriculum and evaluation procedure. Funding for research and academics in the country needs attention wherein the brightest in every field is wooed.

The Shifting Goal Post of Education

Every school student is pushed to his limits to clear is High School - saying it is the greatest exam he will ever face and his success in life depends on how much he can prove to society of how productive he can be. 

Assuming he comes off in flying colours, he enters college to pursue his 'education', where again he is told that he will have to clearly exhibit his grasp of what is employable and productive skills. His prospects will actually now depend on how well he performs these 3-5 years. 

After jumping through innumerable loops, he completes his 'education' and again he is told that what he has learnt has little to do with his real employable skills and has to undergo training to suit the needs of that particular industry. He is left wondering, what has he learnt all these years. 

From a students' perspective, his journey is like running to a goal post that is ever shifting. Yes. Learning is a countinuous process. But to push our students to sprint to each goal is the mistake we all make. We should let them understand that they are in a marathon and must prepare themselves to keep jogging down the journey of life. 

Why is it necessary to say this today? 

Well, go to any college and you find atleast 30-50% of the students disinterested in studying. Creating ruckus. Even in IITs you find that students do not find the motivation to keep moving ahead, because they are tired from running a sprint for their high school graduation. Having cleared that, they feel they have earned their due and waiting for society to heap rewards. Only a select few find the motivation within themselves and keep pushing themselves to excellence even in college. A few more students falter here and once they graduate, they find it very hard to pursue 'knowledge'. For them, their 'education' is over. 

In every system across the world, education is practised as if it is a result of discipline and hardwork. That is why we give importance to Attendance. Uniform. Term papers. Conformity. Rules. Silence. Order. We somehow value that education that is a result of Discipline.

But true education happens only when there is curiosity. A right answer supplanted at the right moment of curiosity from a child makes a learning for life. And it is this curiosity that our system has failed to ignite in the minds of the children. 

How difficult is it for us to talk to children, students and parents and explain that they have to take a different view of education. 

Education is a Nourishment

I would ask the parents and teachers to draw the analogy of how education is also another form of nutrition. You can't cram it in. You have to gradually keep digesting it. Daily. For the rest of our lives. It is as joyful an experience as it is to keep finding tasty dishes that exhilarates our palates. Imagine telling our children, 'what you eat today will define what you are for the rest of your life'. 

Today we gladly ask our children to eat a whole lot of crap and ask them to regurgitate them to check if they have eaten properly. This has to stop. We need children to be fed. Not force fed. 

Children are by nature inquisitive. By just fanning this curiosity early in life and keeping them engaged in this habit can help the child be a knowledge seeker for life. 

Yes, all we need is a culture of celebrating Knowledge - where education happens by putting the child at the centre of the process, rather than putting education as a goal at all. 

Can the Samvad cell make an impact

The promise and the practice of Samvad Cell of the BJP which has over 60,000 members contributing their ideas for a New India can only be described at best archaic. Just because, the samvad cell has garnered over 60,000 mermbers using technology does not make it an effective tool. The promise is immense and encouraging, the potential limitless, but reality is that it is doing things not in a visionary way but as an archaic bureaucracy. Perhaps I am being too critical with just two papers created by this enthusiastic group. But if these two papers are any models to go by, I cannot be but skeptical. 

Whats wrong with these two papers. 

Well, it does not come up with any unique insight into the problem. Period. There is nothing in it that will make a reader go - Wow, I did not know that. Presented to a seasoned bureaucrat, he will just cast it aside saying that there is nothing he does not know, nothing new by means of causes or statistics and nothing by mneans of solution that has not been tried. 

You cannot solve the problems of today using the same systems that created them. 

The solutions suggested in the papers are just results expected. There is not a single idea on how to go about implementing them. Both papers address only one aspect of the public - its aspirations. A wish list. That is all. This list can be prepared by two people sitting and thinking for 2-3hrs. What the samvad cell needs to do is to co-ordinate the nation and enlighten them in the language of the polity. 

The missing analysis & arguments

Being in the government, they have access to statistics. Before they come up with just the aspiration list, they could do well to cross check these with statistics.  

Any paper has to talk about all aspects of the problem including potential opposition, potential costs, potential failures, measurement metrics and safeguards for misuse. With 60,000 people contributing, i know it is a huge task, but how else can you use the collective intelligence. The parameters have to be analysed in detail. 

Waste of Time

I spent 3-4 hours on researching the subject before posting an opinion on the samvad cell. Adding the time spent for each subject, that is a cumulative loss of over 10 man days. After seeing none of the ideas even touched by samvad cell, i should come to only one conclusion that I might as well have spent it on something useful. But my love of MODI and his vision and passion makes me stick on to the samvad cell. I have long given up hope on the bureaucracy to come up with any new or practical solution. This government through a participative approach gives me a glimmer of hope that even I in some way could be part of the Think Tank. I think that there are atleast 60,000 people like me who give their opinions in hope of being listened to. Pls. do not ignore our time and ideas that could make India better.

The samvad cell should not act just as a proactive, responsive government. It should act as a proactive, intelligent, responsive BJP government. It has to believe in its serious role in Nation Building. 

THE PROMISE YET

Being technologically savvy, BJP should employ state of the art systems to data mine both the government and the ideas generated by the members of samvad cell. 

Data convergence, data mining of the suggestions from various members should be classified into various meta tags and analysed individually by creating a matrix that can be classified and sorted. A rough tagging principle could be, topic, governance level, branch of government, nature of suggestion sub tagged as pain point, underlying cause, expected end result, methodology, regulation, change in procedure, creating institutions, policy idea, better implementation, enforcement etc., credibility of suggestion following a ranking system ranked by both the member and peer group rating by volunteers. This can be sorted, rated and ranked by a peer group much like how Wikipedia functions. The best and innovative ideas can then be further made into an argument that should then be made available to the government and the public.

Re-inventing the wheel

Are we re-inventing the wheel so to say. We have to look globally for successful models and adapt them to suit our needs. This has to be done carefully with due diligence paid to long term effects and learnings from other countries. Proven programs that have worked should b emulated as early as possible. 

Cloudsourcing Statistical Analysis

One of the greatest problems in governance of India is the lack of real time data available to the think tank. Because the data is not being crunched by the experts. BJP can facilitate this by allowing members to aid in data analysis and then give suggestions based on various results. This is very important as no solution can work pan-India. In many cases it need can be done on trial basis in separate pockets which can be tracked and then the results included with the idea paper when presented to the government.

Thinking outside the box

You cannot do the same thing again and again expecting a different result. Meaning, whatever solution we provide has to be about creating insitutions, policies, laws, that are outside existing systems. Creating access and transparency is the only demand I see in the existing documents and in my humble opinion will not even make a scratch on the problem. 

The solutions should be very specific in the following 

1. What should be removed

2. What should be changed

3. What should be created

Each of which should deal with 

Regulations, Procedures, Personnel, Institutions, Responsibilities, Framework of action, Performance metrics, Social metrics, financial model etc., wherever applicable. 

Principles of Sound Governance

Today, the buzz word is Governance.

Can we develop a frame work that will define Indian Government and quality of Governance. One that would include every aspect of governing this nation. In this quest, I found this on the internet - a document of the Government of Singapore.

http://www.ne.edu.sg/principles_of_governance.htm

It is a bit narrow and specific to fit the size & diversity of India, I hope to create a similar document for India.

This is a document that each civil servant, has to read and hold as his/her guiding principle in what he/she does. This will not only help him deliver what the nation expects out of the government, but will also be self-fulfilling.

Imperatives of India's Governance

The priorities & practicalities of Governance in India is ruled by the following paradigms

1. Diversity of Culture, Language, Religion, Education, Economics
2. Size & Demography
3. Federalism
4. History & Legacy of Governance

India, today needs to set higher standards of Government & Governance to ensure public trust is maintained. We, as the pillars of this institution of Government undertake to fulfill the promise of a strong, cohesive, self-reliant, independent India and we believe in following the ideals laid out in the constitution and shall serve the people of India with utmost dedication, diligence, morality & selflessness.

India's strength lies in its Government,comprising of; the people who lead the Government; the long established systems, protocols & procedures; its strong moral, social & cultural identity; principled Government policies & programs that work towards growth and prosperity of all Indians.

Recognizing the need for greater solidification of its purpose, vision & ideals, the government dedicates itself to the principles on which it shall provide maximum Governance.

People

India lies on a demographic dividend and along with its well recognized intellectual capabilities, should leverage on its biggest strength - its people. We are the biggest group of empowered, efficient & motivated individuals working as generals and soldiers in this battle to make India the greatest nation in the world.

Visionary Leadership

A visionary leadership quality has to be nurtured in every individual who is in civil service which will provide rich dividends to both the individual and to the nation. A visionary civil service should grab every opportunity to solve the problems of tomorrow.

Proactive & Patriotic Thinking

Nation above all - a mantra that shall be embodied by every member of the civil service.

Evangelists for higher Moral, Cultural, & Social Ideals

Every civil servant dedicates his life to a higher Moral, Cultural & Social Ideal and shall endeavour to honour this code and serve as an example to the society.

Approach

Our approach to providing good governance to this great nation will be holistic, equitable & impartial and follow the following principles.

Ensuring Essentials

We dedicate ourselves to providing all the essentials like Food, Clothing, Housing, Electricity, Roads, Water, Health, Education to each and every citizen of India. 

Uncompromising in Security & Justice

We shall do everything in our power to ensure individual, social, and national security. We shall be the guardians of Justice and shall uphold the law as supreme. 

Preservation of Culture, Values & Identity

Recognizing the richness in history & diversity of culture, values and identity, we shall work towards, preserving it, practicing it & promoting it in everything we do. 

Adopting Best Practices from across the world

The greatest virtue of science & knowledge is its quest for further science and knowledge and we shall pursue it in every aspect of our governance in meeting the goals of the government by using the best practices from wherever in this world.

Equitable & Efficient in Delivery

In our daily delivery of service, we promise to be equitable and shall not distinguish between sex, caste, creed, religion or any other construct. We also dedicate ourselves to be fully efficient in doing our duties in service of this great nation. 

Adopting Technology for both Efficiency & Transparency

We shall take advantage of every technology available that shall aid in the efficiency and transparency of service that we provide. We recognize that our co-ordination - both internal and to the citizens - depends on leveraging today's communication technologies to the fullest. 

Perpetual Self Introspection for evolving better Systems & Procedures

Time is not still and neither should we be. We will proactively review every system and procedure to test it for various parameters and work continuously in improving them in every way possible.

Anticipating Change & Staying Relevant

In a world that is constantly changing, the government has to be able to anticipate whatever change may come, and prepare for any eventuality, either good or bad. This is the only way that the government can stay relevant & respected.

National Interest above all

We humbly dedicate ourselves to the civil service and with a great sense of pride define ourselves as aiding in this noble project of nation building and are proud to put Nation above all. 

Focused Impetus with holistic growth in mind

Given our diversity, every policy & program shall be designed and implemented in a way that provides focused impetus to the designated group of people with a vision to bring greater equality in society

Educating & Empowering the society

We recognize that, in this day and age, the paradigm of better service and the ease in providing it lies in an educated and empowered citizens who are aware of their rights and responsibilities.

Virtues

We as a civil servant of India promise to be Honest, Dedicated, Patriotic, Just, Empathetic, Generous, Humble & Diligent.

Imperatives & Framework 

The imperatives of this Government lies in 

• Responsible Regulation
• Responsive Governance
• Creating Self-Sustaining Institutions
• Preservation of Resources
• Promoting Sustainable programs
• Providing Pragmatic Solutions
• Paradigm Changes that will aid in better governance
• Preventing Corruption
• Promoting Efficiency

To these, principles, values, & framework - we dedicate ourselves. So help me God in keeping me steadfast in this great and noble venture of Building this Great Nation - India. Jai Hind

Educational Reforms that our country needs

At the outset of rumors that our HRD ministry would give the Foreign Universities Bill a push, I personally feel the need of the hour is overhauling of our Institutions. I am not against Foreign universities setting up their campuses on our shores but before we welcome them, we need to take a stock of the current situation in our own institutes. If we can do well in foreign universities, why not in our own? By having foreign universities in our land, it should not be a case of deplorable Indian institutes Vs trendy foreign universities. Our institutes should be comparable and compete with theirs to provide a healthy choice for our students. Otherwise, students will again have to fight for admissions and spend more money for quality education.

The need of the hour is a revamp of our archaic regulations. Reservations has done more harm than good to our Nation. We have been able to achieve quantity while quality has taken a beating through our reservation system. Yes, India is a land of diversified demographics and there is a huge Urban-Rural, Rich-Poor divide. Our reservation system helps us bridge this divide. But, that is just one side of the story. On the other hand, we have been promoting mediocrity and discouraging the meritorious.  Mediocrity kills innovation! My argument is we need reservation but not in its present form. From school to college, we need a reservation system based on economic background that will make higher education accessible to all bridging the urban-rural divide. After one's under-graduation, there is should be no reservation system. The under-graduation course has to bring students from villages/poor background and cities/rich background on the same plane. The course should be structured in a way that bridges the gap at this level. On graduation day, the skills of a rural candidate should match the skills of the urban candidate. Post-graduation and Employment opportunities should be based on merit. At  the post-graduate and research-level, economically backward students can be supported through endowments and scholarships. Similarly,  fellowships should be available for meritorious irrespective of their economical background. This change will bring produce competitive, highly-skilled candidates in the society.

Today, candidates who join universities on quota have no inclination to upgrade their skills, baring a few. Most of them believe the reservation system will help them all their life which, is terrible. To bring about this change, our curriculum should be revamped too. The first year of college should focus on social skills and communication skills apart from academics which enable these students to come to par with others. The curriculum has to focus on:

• Learning through experiments
• More industrial visits
• Research-oriented
• Exchange programs with foreign universities
• Visiting profs from reputed global institutes

Credits should be based on not only marks obtained in examination but also

• Individual research ideas
• White papers presented/published
• Innovations (patented ideas/creations)

These need not be compulsory but students who put in extra efforts and achieve these milestones should be differentiated by awarding credits. 

Government should have a panel which monitors the research ideas of all institutions in the country and fund certain projects. A annual conference organized by the Govt where worthy ideas are recognized and funded would motivate both the institution and the students. Institutions will spend more on research when such initiatives are taken.

In order to come up with research ideas, students should be motivated and have strong guidance. There is a dearth of quality academicians in the country. And only in our country, academicians don't research or rather engage in minimal research. Forget quality academicians at University level, the standard of our teachers in school has become pathetic. Children in Govt schools are not able to do the basics arithmetic correctly. School education reforms is another topic. Now to this,  the government/institutes must lay down policies that ensure professors continue research even after they obtain their doctoral degrees. The induction of lectures/professors also needs a overhauling. Reservations in the academic openings must be abolished. Recruiting based on entrance exams alone is not enough, the candidates for lectureship should be evaluated based on his skills to impart knowledge and conduct research. The lecturers should double up as a  Research Fellow at the department during initial phase of employment. Some of the checkpoints for professors should be

• No of individual research papers/year
• No of research ideas/year
• No of ongoing research projects (Implementation of ideas in Univ Labs)
• No of research fellows tutored
• Teaching methodology (Does the prof go beyond the textbooks? Does he/she use e-resources etc)
• Feedback from students
• No of training sessions/other skill up-gradation

Some/most of these criteria are in place even today but the review and follow-through is unsatisfactory. The professors have to be pulled up for not meeting these standards. The institutes should also facilitate professors to engage with their respective industries on field. Professors must be encouraged to provide consultation services to industries. It should be a part of their academic profile.

Professors who are currently employed should go through skill up-gradation. In the age of e-learning, many profs still do not know to use the Internet. E-journals, and other e-resources should be used for carrying out research instead of age old mechanisms. The mindset of profs also requires a change. Still, the relationship between a prof and a student is that of oneupmanship. There is no conducive environment for collaborative research among students and professors. 

Laboratories in universities need a face-lift.  For professors/students to conduct research, they should be provided with good  infrastructure. Funding our universities is an essential step. We cannot improve the quality of education imparted with the current infrastructure. We should explore corporate/sponsored funding in upgrading research labs and research projects.

If all the money that is spent in foreign university bill can be diverted towards:

1) Improving lab infrastructure and e-resources

2) Overhauling professor recruitment and student admission process

3) Restructuring curriculum to be research oriented

4) Enhancing the skill-level of existing academicians

We will have world-class research done in our own soil by our own people! 

Foreign Universities

Should foreign universities be allowed to function in India, and if so, what should be guidelines?

Inspite of a great vision by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and establishment of many institutions that carried much hope and promise, India has neither produced a university that is truly world class nor a single Nobel Prize Winner. Are the Institutions to be blamed, or whether general circumstances have not been really conducive enough for talent to emerge. But we do see the same indians coming out in flying colours when they go to the world's premier universities. Therefore it is not the problem of intelligence or potential, but a system that has been sidetracked with an social agenda. 

Without going into the details of why the various institutions of India have failed, suffice it to say that the institutions of today have stopped being Knowledge Centres and have become Degree Dispensing  Units. These institutions do not instill a quest for knowledge. They just finish a curriculum so that the student is 'employable'. Better the institution, more employable the student. Better the institution, better the 'Pay Package'. Degrees themselves are based not on 'academics' but rather than 'social productivity'.

Can any of the existing institutions in India rise up and say, we do not dispense degrees, we are the centre for knowledge? May be. But I doubt it. 

Another aspect of Indian institutions, though they are run by non-profit 'Trusts' they rarely involve any social or industrial funding, guidance or teaching. Scholarships are for namesake and endowments are non-existent. The only scholarships are 'reservation' based rather than 'merit' based. Merit is an overrated quality in Indian Education Institutions.

Having said this, what is it that a foreign university can bring to India that will make a paradigm shift in Education. Well, potentially they have the power to change the education landscape. But realistically, all these universities will lend is just a name and it will be run in the 'Indian' model and make more cosmetic changes to the Indian educational scene. 

If we are to allow Foreign Universities, they have have to a self-sufficient, socially and industrially supported and guided, research oriented, meritocratic and should bring in best practices in education to India. 

What we Actually Need Foreign Universities To Bring to India

1. Funding Models including sponsored research

2. Excellence Models on how to produce Star Students

3. Management Models for Better administration (avoiding huge bureaucracy)

4. Assessment Models 

5. Research Driven Education 

6. Teaching Models

7. Academic Oriented Education Stream (For those interested)

8. Better and Best practices in Art & Culture Study 

9. Research Guides & Faculty at Research Level

These are some of the things that differentiate Foreign Universities and unless they come as a whole package, then we would be doing a great disservice to the youth of tomorrow and end up giving them only an increase in Brand Value of Education. Foreign Universities have to bring real value to Education in India. Without an implicit commitment by the Foreign universities to come as a whole package along with the infrastructure and research driven model, it fail to achieve its purpose.

This poses another dilemma to the regulators. Who will regulate these Foreign Universities. UGC? Well, under what rules? A special set of rules?

Which brings to the question whether it is fair to hold the Foreign Universities to a different standard than the Indian Ones. That would be totally unfair, both to the foreign university and the Indian counterparts. 

If we impose the new standards on local institutions under a new higher guidelines, Indian institutions cannot re-invent themselves quickly enough and will be eaten alive by these universities or will eventually tie up with some minor university providing no real change in qulaity of education.

So this becomes a catch 22. 

On the other hand, regarding these Foreign Universities attracting star students, the existing institutitions will further be depleted and standards drop, denying them any chance of global recognition. Ever. 

WHAT CAN BE DONE

1. Having delved into the problems of allowing foreign universities, let us see what are the opportunities in enhancing our existing universities to be world class. 
2. Rather than planning to bring foreign universities, we can hire world class academia and scientists even administrators and vice chancellors to modernise indian education institutions. They can bring the technology to make Indian Universities into world class facilities of research and excellence.
3. Social funding of Higher education Institutions. Industries create meritocratic scholarships and can have a right to pick top students to join their industry. Infact, if any company wants to do campus recruitment, they can only do so if they have created a scholarship and an endowment fund. Even these Higher education institutions also create meritocrtic scholarship funds in schools and the whole meritocracy trickles down. 
4. Cost of professional education is really prohibitive and it should not be. If India is to truly become globally competitive, then anybody should be able to atleast work their way through college, with some student loans and pay off the same within 3-5 years after completing their degree. Again this should be a meritocratic process.
5. Government Scholarship for the economically downtrodden to be followed up with a commitment from the student to serve 5 years in either the Army or 5 years in Teaching. Real Service to the nation. 
6. Academic Excellence to be made a priority and creating sponsored research to which the sponsor gets the right to any patent or invention. 
7. Shared reosoures and better utilization of facilities among colleges.
8. Just as College students go to Industry visits, School students should be encouraged to go to Institution visits to centres of higher education.
9. Branding and pride of belonging to schools & colleges should be enhanced with increased inter collegiate competitions across disciplines like academic, cultural and sports. 

These but just a few ideas, I am sure many many more constructive ideas are there for the world to see. 

Corruption and Transparency (Issues)

Attitudes that have promoted corruption

The opportunity to be corrupt and be corruptive is only prevalent where there is allocation or procurement of scarce resources or what can be called a ‘bestowing culture’ – because therein lies the power to choose and bestow on who will get what.

Custodians of wealth & resources.

The government acts as the sole custodian of certain resources and in the process of distribution / allocation of resources, be it Land, Water, Electricity, Food, Communication, Goods, Education, Licenses, Permissions, Approvals, services such as Education, Healthcare, Transport etc., demand bribes for bestowing the benefits irrespective of who it benefits as they see it as it is within the power to bestow or not. A sort of holding the key to the lock in your hand and saying there is a value / price to that key.

Bureaucracy as the spider’s web. 

A whole bureaucracy was created to make the bribing process more difficult by making it difficult for the people to bribe say 2-5 levels of authorities to get any benefit. While the idea was great, as it created a method of cross checking that ensures that due process was followed, in time as either the value of the benefit kept increasing or the resource became more scarce or cost-reward benefit increased, all of the employees demanded that if this file has to go to the next higher authority with my endorsement, then I need to benefit from it in some way. It resulted in the citizen made to jump too many hoops to get what was rightfully his due. The bureaucracy developed into this whale shark that found innovative ways to cite ineligibility / lacunae / non-compliance of minute details to extract their own pound of flesh at each level. There is also the bureaucracy’s obsession of a clear paper trail to cover their own stations that enabled people to find trivial reasons of non-compliance.

Corrupting the Genuine. 

Now, once the bureaucracy insisted on bribes even for genuine cases, it also corrupted many who could have stayed honest into saying why should they comply and pay a bribe and many chose to circumvent and pay the bribe – as paying the bribe was less costly. This is the case generally in Direct and Indirect revenue sectors where money actually changes hands from Suffrage to Government. Even in cases of the reverse, especially in subsidizing where the Government pays the contractor / service provider, the power to either grant or hold the subsidy opens the opportunity to be corrupt.

Job security. 

There is an implied job security with a government job and the process to hold anyone truly accountable is non-existent. There are no performance standards and as long as the person attends office and does the odd job, his job is secure. There is no real incentive for him to do his work. Today the only incentive is the bribe he gets for getting the job done.

Impunity. 

The long departmental, legal process ensures that no one is punished. In a country where corruption is rampant, there should be a better conviction rate than that is prevalent. There has to be better vigilance, better processes for reporting, apprehending and swift punishment of the corrupt.

Are there areas where Corruption has ceased to exist?

Yes. At the ground level, wherever the scarcity of resource has been resolved and made plenty, we find that corruption is non-existent. For eg. When there was only one telecom provider, to fix a faulty line we had to pay a bribe to the lineman. Today when one lineman asks, we say disconnect your connection and I will get another line from another service provider. This is one of the keys to solve the corruption – to make the government only responsible for really scarce resources and where possible, make it more competitively available and the market will solve corruption. Yes, this opened a new can of worms as to licensing of service providers which by itself became a new avenue for corruption.

General accepted truths about Corruption

Corruption always travels from Top to Bottom. Cleaner Politicians will breed cleaner bureaucracy and in turn ensure a cleaner government. Therefore the cleaning process should also be top to bottom.

The rampancy of corruption in India is that for a government servant to do his basic duty, he demands a bribe. A ward boy who is in charge of the morgue keeps the morgue under lock and key and he demands a bribe for every time to open it. There will always be an undeserving person applying for a privilege that he is not eligible for, that will breed an opportunity for corruption which can be tackled through a transparency mechanism, but this corruption in giving people their dues and rights is abominable.

Institutional Corruption is where key departments and ministries are empowered to be the final deciding authority on bestowing licenses, approvals and the system acts to milk the beneficiary in whatever means possible. Making these departments more responsible and accountable through a facilitation process of granting licenses and approvals rather than a guardian of wealth and resources would ensure a more transparent system.

Processes that create the most opportunity to be corrupt

1.       Entitlements : PDS, Health, Education Etc.,

2.       Recruitment : Appointments, Transfers etc.,

3.       Revenue : Sales Tax, Service Tax, Income Tax, Excise, Duty etc.,

4.       Subsidies : Food, Fuel, Fertilizer, Drinking water & Sanitation, Child Education, etc.,

5.       Registrations : Land & Property, Birth, Death, Marriage, etc.,

6.       Tendering : Roads, Infrastructure, Procurements, etc.,

7.       Licenses / Permissions / Approvals : Transport, Driving, Building, Factory etc.,

8.       Policing : Violations, Minor Offenses, Minor Altercations, Bailable offenses etc.,

Solutions:

1.       Organisation structural change of Bureaucracy to be more flat – rather than more pyramidal. For each process of verification / approval / authentication, the government can create a pool of inspectors, officers and agents who will be randomly allotted cases to verify / approve / authenticate the application – something like how banks use various agencies that do document verification before giving loans.

2.       This also removes the jurisdictional authorities that empowers people to wield their power over areas and benefit the maximum. Inspection of compliance should not be limited to jurisdictional areas and can be randomly cross verified. Say a building inspector of Zone II will get allotted a random house in Zone V to be inspected and reported electronically before end of day. The next day, another inspector from Zone V will be assigned the same house and asked to report electronically within the very same day. On comparing these two, a true picture will emerge.

3.       Use the Double Blind Paper trail Solution: Make each application devoid of any markings that identify the person applying for any benefit. Just as Exam papers are.

4.       Use of Post / Email / E-Governance as sole channel of interaction with implemented double blind systems for Tendering, Licensing, Approval, Permissions.

5.       Use of Evaluation Forms with Point Grade systems that are double Blind and incorporate Registration Key type Authentication for each approval / permission from the system.

6.       One day limitation to approve or reject applications citing appropriate reasons and options to Re-apply without additional fee on compliance within stipulated times.

7.       Government as a Service provider rather than a Security Guard. Create a facilitator / moderator / mentor for each applicant who will educate & guide the applicant on methods, processes, compliance requirements, statutory requirements like how ISO consultants work. Though these mentors will have no control over who will check / verify the actual compliance.

Protection & Safety of Women in India

There is a saying “sex is not bad, sex is too good to be misused.” This has to be the premise of all thought that goes into creating frameworks & institutions that shall work towards the goal of providing protection & safety for women in India.

Awareness of Sexuality:

Natural Curiosity about sex and sexuality is among the basic human instincts and cannot be wished away or educated / policed away and should not be curbed in any way. Any law / steps taken towards correcting the social imbalance against the various forms of exploitation should not in any way create a negative impact on anyone’s mind on what Sex & Sexuality is. As such, there is too much disinformation and wrong impressions in young men’s and women’s minds on what Sex and Sexuality is. In the process of educating and enacting laws, sex itself should not be treated as a taboo.

Education & Exploration of Sex & Sexuality:

At the appropriate ages of attaining puberty, both boys and girls must undergo a proper education of what sex and sexuality means and what are the social norms. Here the govt. can play an important role through both formal and informal means of communications to set the boundaries of what is safe exploration and ensure that education drives a healthy knowledge about sex and socially acceptable ways of exploring sexuality.
To understand today’s problem, we have to understand a progression in the types of problems a girl/woman goes through.
1. Exploitation & Harassment 2. Molestation 3. Rape

Problems & Solutions

1. Social Education 
2. Sex Education 
3. Sex Helpline for seeking clarity (To tackle Exploitation & Harassment) 
4. Sex Exploitation Emergency Helpline (To tackle Molestation) 
5. Sensitizing Legal and Para Legal bodies on limits and methods to be adopted for taking cognizance, investigating, prosecuting sexual offences 
6. Defining Sexual Harassment in Workplaces 
7. Defining Consensual Sex 
8. Defining Statutory Rape 
9. Legalising Prostitution 
10. Changing of Evidence Act of India to accomodate modern and more scientifc methods of ascertaining & establishing rape and sexual offences. 
11. Creating specialized Sexual Reform Centers for Rape & Sexual offenders as an alternate to Regular Prison Time, in lines of Rehabilitation Centers for Substance Abuse. 
12. The first 5 have to converted into Actionable Institutions on ground through various means, whereas the rest are legal frameworks and policy guidelines. 

Actionable Items on ground could be

• Sexual Health and Helpline in each Health Centre 
• Sexual exploitation helpline with All Women’s police stations with a reach of 1 Police station for 1,00,000 population 
• Institutionalization of Sex Education Board creating programs that are equally sensitive to local, religious and social norms 
• Each District Court / Munsif Court to have a separate cell to receive complaints and act on them through direct cognizance and direct the police to investigate and interrogate complaints answerable to the court and not the complainant

Doing Business in India

No doubt a Private Industry/Businesses in Manufacturing, Trading & Service Industries propels the nation in the path of development and plays a key role in providing goods and services that enable a better quality of life. But as the repository of public trust, the government can only be skeptical that not all businesses will follow all ethics. Though the main idea is to promote businesses establish themselves and take advantage of free market, the government has to be wary of the business which will always try to cut the corner and maximise profit. Though, in principle, the market itself will weed out the bad elements, which lies in the principle 'buyer beware', in a society like India, where the illiterate and gullible consumers are huge in numbers, the government has an additional role to ensure that businesses do not take advantage of the underprivileged and gullible. While wary of its resposibilities, a framework has to be laid in such a way that it facilitates businesses to flourish in the freee market. Due deligence has to be observed by the government.

Role of government in business facilitation

Today, most of the Licenses, Processes, Laws & Procedures are a result of years of trying to plug many loopholes that have been taken advantage by shrewd businesses. All of them cannot be wished away. Although, there can be a fresh look at all of these with a holistic wisdom.

One thing that has to be kept in mind is that we cannot approach the process of making it easier for businesses as a return to unregulated markets, but changing the attitude of the government from being a pure regulator to a facilitator cum regulator.

Ignorantia Juris Non Excusat. 

When a person wants to do a business, he has to have a clear understanding of his duties and responsibilities. The government should ensure that each business is educated on statutory complainces with respect to Taxation, Licenses, Safety, Quality, Health, Sanitation, Environment etc. In today's scenario all these information is not available in a single format hence there are 'liason brokers' or touts who help in 'formalities'. Files are cleared based on familiarity to touts rather than familiarity to systems. 

Demands Vs Solutions

All of the above assumes that the Business will act morally. Well, if only. Irrespective of the constitution of the business from being Proprietory, Parternship, Private Limited or Public Limited Company, the purpose of business is to maximise profits and their total compliance cannot be safely asssumed. Even when it is not the intention of these businesses to defraud the government, the government has to right to get its share of business profits for creating the environment to do the business. 

PARADIGM SHIFTS

Legitimise the illegitimate: 

Give a legitimate status to 'brokers'. We have to see these brokers for what they are. The have privatised the education and facilitation of statutory compliances. They are as much aware of the systems and procedures of bureaucracy as a bureaucrat does. We can tap into this knowledge base. By legitimising these brokers, we also make them accountable to the business / individual who uses their services. They can also be regulated, penalised. Secondly, these brokers can break the system of having to pay bribes for legitimate files. Competition among brokers will ensure that the business is free to employ any broker and will change a broker if his fees are unjust. The market decides the price of the brokerage service. Just as in many Income Tax and Sales Tax cases, where not a single penny is paid as a bribe, because the assessee is confident that he has followed the law (through the professional advice of an auditor perhaps, who can also be seen as one who plays the role of facilitating compliance). Just as we have legitimised Passport Brokerage through the mechanism of Travel agents, we can extend this to other departments too. There is a working model of the same as a for profit business in Mumbai. 

Rationalise Costs:

The fees that each of pay to the government can best be assessed as arbitrary. Hypothetically, let us assume that the government is a big institution providing the 'service' of governance and If we can do a departmentwise - servicewise costing analysis of the government and arrive at a cost for each service provided, the government can then decide which services to subsidise and which services to make a profit from. Basically cross subsidise its services. 

Sworn Undertakings instead of Licences 

Combined with an Insurance cum Inspection liability coverage:

Let each business give an undertaking to the Government along with a fee that is taken as a 'Insurance premium', for each compliance that he has to adhere to. For eg., If a business wants to start a Car Washing service, It has to comply with certain environment laws on ways it treats the wastes. It also has to adhere to safety standards for employees. Today a government inspector needs to inspect the facility before it becomes commercially operable and certify that the business is conforming with standards. Since the inspector is 'empowered' to grant licences, he often takes a bribe and ignores some or all parts of compliance. With multiple compliances to be taken care of this makes it costly and cumbersome for the bussiness to start. Moreover, the inspector is not liable at all and in case of violations caught, it is still the business only that pays the fine. 

Solution: But what if the business were to give an undertaking to the Government and an insurance company is given the job of inspection and approval for the businesses to run. This make the inspection fully 'liable', as the insurance company will be liable to pay losses to the government if any non-compliance is noted. In a way, the business just takes an insurance. Competition in the insurance sector will ensure corruption free inspection as the business is free to go to any Insurance company. The undertaking empowers the Government to take criminal legal proceedings against the company because it has not lived upto the undertakings. The Insurance company through its inspection mechanism, will determine the risk category and charge appropriate Insurance premiums. This will disincentivise the business to do wrong. Simply because, the cost of doing business will increase if the insurance premiums go up. Also, just like a no claim bonus, the insurance company can give discounts to compliance, if no violation is found through its inspection mechanisms. Fuerther, to prevent corruption of the inspection mechanism, the inspector's employment with a particular insurance company itself could be through a common pool system.

This system is very much similar to asking all motorists to take a compulsory insurance that will cover the risk of damage to others. To take this further, we can even ask all the insurance companies to take over RTO inspections of any nature. Because it is in the interest of the Insurance company that all motorists follow rules. 

Privatise Profits, Socialize Costs. But the difference is that, the socialized costs is not borne by the state, but by Private Insurance institutions, that takes the law of averages to their benefit. 

For example, in a manufacturing facility, the following compliances can be Insured,

Worker Safety: Periodic inspection by insurance, to ensure all workers are provided safety equipment, proper training for their appropriate job, only proper trained people are assigned jobs etc.,

Appliance / equipment Safety: Periodic inspection, that the equipment are working to safety standards.

Environment - Process: That the business adheres to noise, air, pollution, chemical safety during the process. 

Storage and Handling: Proper storage facilities, and handling facilities, with trained personnel for the same are being adhered to.

Environment - Disposal of Waste: Any effluent, gaseous, liquid, or solids are disposed without harm to anybody.

Insurance company can train and certify people, as fit for specific, semi-skilled / skilled job. 

The only question remains, is that, how penalization and subsequent actions will prevent ignorance of the rules. 

This is ensured through a tort system. Any citizen, can claim from the government, any direct / indirect harm that has resulted from violation of norms. The government, through a 'para judicial mechanism', will investigate and appropriately order the Insurance company to compensate the victim and/or additional penalties on the business to be paid to the government as costs for 'judicial review'. The Insurance company, pays the same to the victim, and subsequent insurance premiums from that unit will be higher, as the risk goes up. As various insurance companies compete for the same insurance business, there could occur a situation, where, a competing insurance company might risk a lower premium from a previous errant unit, thereby, disincentivising units from compliance. However, repeated offences will render all insurance companies eventually agreeing on a 'rating' system, similar to the credit rating system today and charge on neutral assesment of risk. 

Coming to the para judial mechanism, a system that could work