April 18, 1964 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

Educational Planning and Economic Development K K Subrahmanian

Progress of education in India continues to be judged by the number of universities and colleges set up and the number of students coming out of them with degrees,

The University Grants Commission justifies the increase in the number of institutions of higher educa­tion on the ground that the number of students coming passing out of the secondary schools has increased con respondingly.

This is, however, hardly the right criterion by which to regulate investment in higher education in a developing country.

E X P E N D I T U R E on education is a product ive investment in hu­

man resources and its consequence is a f o r m of capi ta l — a produced means of product ion — which may be cal led 'human cap i ta l ' to dist in­guish i t f rom physical capi ta l . I t goes wi thout saying that developing countries have to invest a sizeable por t ion of their resources in educa­t ion . In these countries, though la­bour is abundant the inadequate sup­p ly of sk i l l and knowledge and ca­p i ta l goods per capita constitutes a ma jo r impediment to growth of pro­duct iv i ty and economic develop­ment. The format ion of these two types of capi ta l — human and phy­sical — is the pre-requisite fo r deve­lopment. Further, economic develop­ment also presupposes a favourable socio-pol i t ical c l imate, in the crea­t ion of which education of the peo­ple has a v i ta l ro le. F rom a l l these aspects, a deliberate p lan of invest­ment in education is a pre-condit ion of g rowth . It is not enough that a sizeable part of the communi ty 's re­sources should be invested in edu­ca t ion ; that investment should be p roper ly planned so as to get the max imum social re turn.

Two Aspects of Planning

Planning of education in the un­derdeveloped economies has a nega­tive as wel l as a posit ive aspect. On the negative side, it impl ies a rea­sonable restraint on investment in types of education the capi tal form­ed wheref rom has only a low mar­g ina l efficiency to the ind iv idua l and to the society and which p lay on ly a m inor ro le in increasing nat ion­al output . The exist ing educational system in the underdeveloped coun­tr ies, or at least in a ma jo r i t y of them, is not such as can create the r igh t type of sk i l ls and talents need­ed f o r development. Yet , there may exist power fu l pressure against a change in the system, which has

evolved through a h is tor ica l process of inheritance. In a p lanned econo­my we accept regulat ion of invest­ment in consumption goods; i t is no less rat ional to cur ta i l invest­ment in education which contr ibutes l i t t le or noth ing to the growth of nat ional income.

On the posit ive side, p lann ing of education impl ies a scientific pro-ject.ion of the long-term requirements of the quantum and qual i ty of sk i l ls and, in that context, the drawing up of an educational p lan and its exe­cut ion. What should be the pattern of investment in education ? The gestation between input and output in education is necessarily long and so the investment p lan must have a long-term perspective. Educat ional p lann ing has to proceed a long wi th manpower p lann ing and both these should fo rm an integral part of the overal l economic p lan.

Investment in Education

In the l ight of the above observa­tions it w i l l be interesting to evalu­ate educational p lann ing in Ind ia . The Five-year Plans have recognised the importance of education as an instrument of economic progress and the, investment in education has been progressively stepped up. Thus wh i le the First P lan provided for Rs 169 crores, the Second Plan a l lo t ted Rs 204 crores, and the out­lay on education in the T h i r d Plan is estimated to be Rs 408 crores. Table 1 gives an idea of the growth of investment in education, part icu­l a r l y of investment f r om Govern­ment funds.

Between 1950-51 and 1960-61, corresponding to the per iod of the first two Plans, expenditure on edu­cat ion increased by 210 per cent f r o m Rs 114.38 crores to Rs 355.50 crores. This increase has to be con­sidered against the growth of popu­la t ion and of nat ional income. Such

a comparat ive study is given in Table 2 and the picture that emer­ges is far f rom reassuring.

What is even more d isappoint ing is the pattern of educational invest-ment, which continues to conform to the pre-independence, pre-plan­n ing pattern. Progress of education continues to be judged in terms of the number of universit ies and col­leges set up and the number of stu­dents coming out of them wi th deg­rees. There has taken place an un­b r id led expansion of universit ies and inst i tut ions of higher learning whi le the lower format ions have re­mained in a neglected state. The

April 18, 1964 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

a l a r m i n g g rowth in the number o f universi t ies and inst i tut ions of h igh­er educat ion can be seen f r o m Tab le 3.

False Criterion

This expansion in the number of univers i t ies and ins t i tu t ions of h igh­er lea rn ing is jus t i f ied by the U n i ­versi ty Grants Commission on the g round that the number of students passing out of the secondary schools has increased cor respond ing ly . The U G C ' s Annua l repor t for 1959-60 says: "as educat ion at the lower level spreads and more and more boys and g i r l s complete their school educat ion, the number of them who seek admission to the Univers i t ies w i l l na tu ra l l y rise." Th is , however, is ha rd l y the r igh t c r i te r ion by wh ich to regulate investment in h igher educat ion. The I nd ian econo­my is not developed enough to ab­sorb a l l the graduates and post­graduates in humani t ies emerg ing f r o m the universi t ies in the profes­sional and po l i t i ca l f ields; hence there is no jus t i f i ca t ion for the d i ­version of scarce resources into these f ields of educat ion. On the other hand, these resources cou ld be bet­ter u t i l ised for improvement in the qua l i t y of educat ion in these f ields and also for increasing the invest­ment in scientif ic and technical edu­cat ion, p a r t i c u l a r l y at the lower and in te rmed ia ry levels.

M u c h of the educated manpower remains unemployed, not surpr is ing­ly . The g rav i t y of the s i tuat ion can be seen f r o m Tab le 4. And the pos i t ion is steadi ly worsening. Un ­employed graduates, other than en­g ineer ing and medical graduates, as on the L ive Registers of Emp loy ­ment Exchanges numbered 36.549 in 1958 and 50.670 in June 1961. The waste invo lved in such i nvo lun ­tary idleness of human cap i ta l , f o rmed after heavy investment, sharp ly reduces the re turn to invest­ment in educat ion in these fields. A poor coun t ry cannot a f fo rd to f r i t ­ter away its scarce resources in this way as a result of unp lanned in ­vestment in educat ion, wh i le there is such urgent need for increased investment in the scienti f ic and tech­no log ica l f ie lds of educat ion.

An interest ing question i s : Wha t are the forces beh ind the increased demand for h igher educat ion In I n d i a ? I t is not that the in te l lectu­

al equipment of the students pass­i ng out of the schools is such as to qua l i f y a large number of them fo r un ivers i ty educat ion in I n d i a ? The Univers i ty Grants Commission ad­mits that " there is enough evidence to show that a great many of stu­dents who actua l ly enter on univer­sities and who seek to enter there do not in fact have the necessary in te l lec tua l and emot iona l prepara­t ion for un ivers i ty educa t ion" . Yet the demand fo r h igher educat ion is r u n n i n g far ahead of the p rov is ion fo r i t , thereby creat ing a false case for fur ther increasing the number of inst i tu t ions of h igher educat ion. The real causes of the never-ending scramble for un ivers i ty educat ion are, f irst, that the employment op­por tun i t ies fo r students coming out of the secondary schools (wh ich be ing based on the same or thodox patterns do not create the r ight s k i l l and talent requi red by the econo­m y ) are grossly inadequate, and, second, that fac i l i t ies , w i t h i n the reach of the common man, to get h imsel f t ra ined in those f ie lds wh ich give a qu icker and greater re turn are lack ing . There exists a chasm between the secondary school level and h igher educat ion and the ava i l ­able resources can be better u t i l ised to b r idge this gap w i th a rami f ied network of vocat ional , professional and technical t r a i n i ng centres.

Reconstruction Essential

The other consequence of unres­t r i c ted entry of students in to col le­ges is that there is overc rowd ing in these inst i tut ions, wh ich impai rs the qua l i t y of educat ion. Fur ther , the students being i l l - equ ipped fo r h igh­er educat ion, wastage is a p p a l l i n g . An idea of the wastage can be had f r o m the percentage of fa i lu res at the un ivers i ty examinat ions and . s t i l l more, f r o m the number of stu­dents who leave the i r studies i n ­complete. Thus wh i l e 86,668 students enro l led for BA /BSc in 1950-51, the number of those who passed out in 1952-53 was on l y 40 ,017 ; the enro lment for M A / M S c in 1952-53 was 19,684 and the number of those who passed out in 1954-55 was on ly 11,103. Th is is a nat ional waste, caused by the defective pattern of investment in educat ion.

Economic prudence as we l l as the need fo r improvement of the qua l i ­ty of educat ion suggest a po l i cy of "select ive admiss ion" to universi t ies.

Acceptance of this p r i n c i p l e is re­f lected in the Un ivers i t y Grants Commission's move to in t roduce the three-year degree course th roughout the count ry . But the way in wh ich the scheme has been implemented has moved i t away f r o m th is goa l .

A n y move to restrict univers i ty

educat ion w i l l , fo r sure, come up

against organised po l i t i ca l opposi­

t i o n ; but i t w i l l be suic idal to give

in to these pressures. The ava i lab le

resources can be far better ut i l ised

for a reconstructed scheme of edu­

cat ion wi th a very broad base of

universal l i teracy at the bo t tom, a

rami f ied network of technica l , voca­

t iona l and professional centres at

the intermediate level and selective

p romot ion of h igher educat ion and

research.

Source : Based on "Employment and Unemployment Studies" No 1, National Employment Service, Ministry of Labour and Em­ployment, Government of India,

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