Guest column: For private universities to survive, mergers could be a good solution

A nation’s commitment to develop human resource for its holistic development is evident from the number of educational institutes it has. Though an impressive number of higher educational institutions have opened in India since independence, quality and appreciable gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education is a bridge too far.

Even after more than seven decades past independence, none of the Indian universities could find a berth among top hundred institutions of higher education at the global level; the ambitious target of 30% GER in the year 2020 has also not been achieved as yet.

At present, there are 935 universities (including 127 deemed to be universities) in the country. An exponential increase in the share of private universities was noted since the year 2008 when there were only 14 private universities. Now the country boasts of 349 private universities. Obviously, private education providers became ambitious to start courses of their choice with flexible admission capacity and rules, by attaining a sort of autonomy by opening new universities. Many such institutes were just elevated from the colleges already established, without adding substantial research component or outreach activities, the parameters which distinguish colleges from the universities.

Ironically, failure of the public sector to spare adequate funds to raise the level of academics at universities and colleges led to private enterprises cropping up to complement public educational institutions. At present, the tiny state of Punjab has 16 private universities against 11 public institutes; the first to be established being Lovely Professional University in the year 2006. Since then each coming year added one or more universities to the state’s kitty; a maximum of three in the year 2016.

Initially, opening of private universities could have paid dividends in the form of appreciable revenues, but the downtrend in engineering courses and exodus of students for foreign education made it difficult for the institutes to run the show . In the recent past, Punjab has seen a silent exodus of 1.5 lakh students; 1.25 lakh only to Canada.

Payment of reasonable salaries and hiring adequate number of competent faculty for effective curricula delivery has become a serious issue. Further, there is no provision of any financial aid from the government to run a private university in India and that explains the primary focus of these universities on enrolling the maximum number of students to fill their coffers. Secondly, the students would prefer an institution which is affiliated to a well recognised public university rather than the yet-to-make-a-mark private university. This is also affecting the admission prospects of the private universities.

Surprisingly, there are private universities on record, where at one time the number of admitted students was only in two digits, and then there were others where enrolment could not touch four digits. This is in stark contrast to private universities in developed countries where average enrolment is not less than 20,000 students. Probably, to run a private university in India with a student strength of less than 5,000, has become a herculean task. Unfortunately, a majority of private universities in the country may be hard pressed even to get these numbers.

The prevailing coronavirus pandemic has made the situation still more dismal for managers of the private universities already struggling to run their institutions due to declining revenues. The situation is likely to worsen in the post-pandemic period. To disburse salaries to the teachers and the supporting staff has become a huge challenge. There seems to be little likelihood of getting any special financial aid from state or Central government in view of the pandemic.

What is the way out then? This is the time for managers or owners of private universities to sit together and ponder over the issue. They need to share, sustain and survive. The idea of merging their universities to bail out of this situation would be worth considering. For instance, in Punjab, and may be in other states of the country, there are several private universities located close to each other. Optimising resources by merging these universities would greatly help to improve the financial status ensuring their sustainability.

Judicious utilisation of expertise and infrastructural resources will be an added advantage. It needs to emphasised that to pursue the cause of education what counts is not opening more universities, but strengthening the existing colleges by catering to their needs.

The Imperial College of London remained a college for more than a century and most of the times it ranked amongst the ten best educational institutions of the world. Khalsa College Amritsar is running very well with thousands of students on its rolls since more than 125 years During my studentship at DAV College Jalandhar from 1971-1975, the enrolment ranged from 4,000 to 5,000 students and very high standards of education were maintained.

Alternatively, majority of private universities that were elevated from colleges can revert to their original stature and renew affiliation to recognised public universities; thus shedding the burden of running a university set up. While this will reduce the financial burden of some institutes, at the same time affiliation to a public university may also brighten the admission prospectus.

Further, private education providers may explore some new avenues of need-based professional education such as veterinary science, much needed for diversification in agriculture rather than opting for short lived fancy courses lacking job opportunities. One very successful example of such venture was opening of the first private veterinary college by the management of the Khalsa College Amritsar, which is affiliated to the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) Ludhiana and maintaining quality standards at par with the GADVASU monitored by the Veterinary Council of India.

The pandemic has put us in a difficult situation and we have to take difficult decisions and subsequent actions for the sacred cause of education.

The author is a former dean of postgraduate studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The views expressed are personal