Higher Education in India: Issues and Challenges

Abstract — Education is a prime mover of the society. The development of a nation to a large extent depends on its education system. Education equips people with appropriate expertise, knowledge and skills to be gainfully employed that leads to the overall development of any economy. People seek education as a key to success- for a better job / career, prosperous and meaningful life. After independence there is a remarkable growth in the higher education system of India offering education and training in almost all aspects of human creativity and intellectual endeavour. However, the overall scenario of higher education in India does not match with the global Quality standards. We need an educational system which is liberal, modern and can adapt to the ever changing needs of the changing world. This calls for a paradigm shift from ‘national education ’ to ‘global education’. In the era of globalisation, educational system cannot withstand the pressure without making itself competitive. The paper is an attempt to analyse the various factors which are important for a country to provide word-class education and absence of which act as hurdle to match education standards with international norms. It takes stock of the initiatives taken be the Government to improve the standard of higher education