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7. Promote enhanced quality. The higher education system must provide for
accountability to society and create accountability within. An expansion of higher
education which provides students with choices and creates competition between
institutions is going to be vital in enhancing accountability.
- There should be stringent information disclosure norms for all educational
institutions such as their financial situation, physical assets, admissions criteria,
faculty positions, academic curricula, as also their source and level of
accreditation.
- Evaluation of courses and teachers by students as well as peer evaluation of
teachers by teachers should be encouraged.
- There must be a focus on upgrading infrastructure, improving the training of
teachers and continuous assessment of syllabi and examination systems.
- It is particularly important to enhance the ICT infrastructure. Websites and webbased
services would improve transparency and accountability. A portal on higher
education and research would increase interaction and accessibility. A knowledge
network would connect all universities and colleges for online open resources.
- It may be necessary to rethink the issue of salary differentials within and between
universities along with other means of attracting and retaining talented faculty
members. Such salary differentials between and within universities could be
effective without being large.
- It is necessary to formulate appropriate policies for the entry of foreign
institutions into India and the promotion of Indian institutions abroad, while
ensuring a level playing field for foreign and domestic institutions within the
country.
- The system of higher education must recognize that there is bound to be diversity
and pluralism in any system of higher education, and avoid a uniform one-sizefits-
all approach. This sense of pluralism must recognise, rather than ignore or shy
away from, such diversity and differentiation.
C. INCLUSION
8. Ensure access for all deserving students. Education is the fundamental mechanism
for social inclusion through the creation of more opportunities. It is, therefore, essential to
ensure that no student is denied the opportunity to participate in higher education due to
financial constraints. We propose the following measures.
- Institutions of higher education should be encouraged to adopt a needs blind
admissions policy. This would make it unlawful for educational institutions to
take into account any financial factor while deciding whether or not to admit a
student.
- There must be a well-funded and extensive National Scholarship Scheme
targeting economically underprivileged students and students from historically
socially disadvantaged groups.
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