06-16-2006, 02:08 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Low politics in higher education
Philip G. Altbach, June 15, 2006
Increasing the retirement age of medical professors, as has been reportedly promised by the government, is yet another official response to the quota debate; the aim here is to make easier larger intake in elite institutions. This once again shows up a fundamental misconception: every country needs elite institutions. It's the only way to ensure enough quality.
Consider this: 10,000 American expatriates are now working in India for high-tech companies. <span style='color:red'>Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services will together hire and train more than 50,000 college graduates from abroad, including more than 1,000 from the US, in the coming year. Why? Because Indian universities are not producing the quality graduates needed for the top end of the new economy.</span> (<span style='color:green'>thrown in the UPAÂ caste/reservation hubris, we'll see these numers go up)</span>
India producesmany university graduates â in 2004 there were almost 700,000 degrees granted in science and engineering alone. However, with few exceptions, the institutions themselves are not of high quality. According to recent international rankings, only the IITs are noted at all, and even these are not anywhere near the top of the charts.
<b>India does not spend enough on higher education â only 0.37 per cent of GDP. The US spends 1.41 and the UK 1.07 per cent. Only countries such as Japan and Korea, where more than 80 per cent of students are in largely unsubsidised private universities, approach India's low spending levels. China spends considerably more than India.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Philip G. Altbach, June 15, 2006
Increasing the retirement age of medical professors, as has been reportedly promised by the government, is yet another official response to the quota debate; the aim here is to make easier larger intake in elite institutions. This once again shows up a fundamental misconception: every country needs elite institutions. It's the only way to ensure enough quality.
Consider this: 10,000 American expatriates are now working in India for high-tech companies. <span style='color:red'>Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services will together hire and train more than 50,000 college graduates from abroad, including more than 1,000 from the US, in the coming year. Why? Because Indian universities are not producing the quality graduates needed for the top end of the new economy.</span> (<span style='color:green'>thrown in the UPAÂ caste/reservation hubris, we'll see these numers go up)</span>
India producesmany university graduates â in 2004 there were almost 700,000 degrees granted in science and engineering alone. However, with few exceptions, the institutions themselves are not of high quality. According to recent international rankings, only the IITs are noted at all, and even these are not anywhere near the top of the charts.
<b>India does not spend enough on higher education â only 0.37 per cent of GDP. The US spends 1.41 and the UK 1.07 per cent. Only countries such as Japan and Korea, where more than 80 per cent of students are in largely unsubsidised private universities, approach India's low spending levels. China spends considerably more than India.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->