Wood's Despatch a scheme to establish universities was to be formulated, whose functions were to hold examinations and corder degrees. The despatch also recommended that a number of high schools should-be set up4. This eventually led to the establishment in the country of the first three universities in 1857

The Hunter Commission report

Commission, inter alia, recommended the gradual withdrawal of the State from thedirect support and management of institutions of higher education. With regard tovocational and technical education, the Commission recommended that in the particularclass of high schools there should be two avenues, one leading to the entranceexamination of the University and the other of a more practical character intended to fitthe youth for commercial, vocational and non-literary pursuits.

Role of universities in a nation

Central function, responsibility or goal of university is to educate people to work effectively in an increasingly technological world – that is, to provide the technical skills needed for a growing number of jobs and professions that require sophisticated knowledge and an education that instills the ability to think critically.

Universities have a significant role in giving a nation its economic vitality, scientific prowess, a broad outline of social change and global competitiveness, through innovation and research. In India the problem is more of employability, than of unemployment. The skills that people have are not appropriate for securing employment. Universities are centers of learning and have always been places where the skills and knowledge of students are chiseled to suit the requirements of the work places. Need of the hour is that our universities assess well in advance and structure courses in a manner that will help their students enter the employment market, prepared for jobs available.

This function has become more complex and variegated, ranging from generaleducation for undergraduates to advanced doctoral instruction and supervision in the most specialized fields.

Research is the other core function of universities,

institutions for national development.

universities have provided vocational education and training for the top professions, thus developing a direct long-term link to the economy and to the practical needs of society.

Universities almost everywhere have become key cre-ative institutions. Many professors, in addition to their

teaching and research, involve themselves in the intellec-tual life of society as commentators, experts or analysts.Some are public intellectuals.

The tremendous creativity of the Enlightenment and thetechnological innovations of the Industrial Revolutionlargely took place outside of the universities. The idea thatuniversities were truly ‘ivory towers’ designed to be sep-arate from society, unwilling to open their doors to theemerging middle classes, meant that universities werelargely uninvolved in the dynamic scientific and politicaldevelopments of the era.

Universities received little public financial support becausethey were not perceived as contributing significantly tosociety. Napoleon, for example, was so unimpressed withthe French universities of the ancien régime that he abol-ished all of them – and replaced them with the vocation-ally oriented grandes écoles.

Towards the end of the19th century, American land grants expanded the researchuniversity concept to include the role of direct service tosociety and the key function of engagement with agricul-ture and industry. These developments, pioneered in Ger-many and the USA, spread elsewhere and broughtuniversities back to the centre of society. Since the early20th century, universities or university-related laborator-ies have been involved in key scientific and intellectualdevelopments in most countries. The development ofradar, atomic energy and many pharmaceuticals illus-trates this point.

basic educational issues are political and can be decided only through political instruments; the ultimate responsibility for the creation of the national education system falls on the political system; and if the political parties do not accept it, no one else can and will. Here, a two-fold action is called for. The first is the positive action of the political parties evolving their own policies in education and implementing them through Government. This needs a continuous dialogue between politicians and educationists and the development of educational 'think-tanks' and cadres in each party. On the negative side, politicians should realize the great damage they are doing to the education system through their interference in establishment and control of educational institutions, appointments and transfer of teachers and other personnel, grant-in-aid, and in all other possible form merely to serve their appetite for patronage and to strengthen their political base. The chaotic conditions in some of our universities are a sad proof of what this interference has led to. The present relationship in education between academics and politicians is very unsatisfactory. The academic desires for full political support without any political

interference; and what the politician gives is full political interference without any political support worth the name. What we must evolve is a new tradition of full political support and legitimate political control which does not interfere with the genuine academic freedom of educational institutions and teachers. This is a long way to go in which both educationists and academics will have to modify their present positions considerably and learn to work together.

In Higher Education, NKC has focused on the three crucial aspects of expansion, excellence and inclusion. There are about 350 odd universities and 18,000 colleges providing higher education in the country, to about 10% of the relevant age group. This is extremely inadequate in a country where the demographic dividend by way of a young population of about 550 million youth, is a much talked about asset. If we are to achieve a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 15% and above by 2015, we need to substantially increase the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) in our country. While this expansion will have to be achieved in part through increased public spending on higher education, it will also require diversifying the sources of fi nancing to encourage private participation, philanthropic contributions and industry linkages. To this end, the current barriers to entry in setting up HEIs are very high relying primarily on legislation. NKC’s recommendation to set up an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE), at an arm’s length from all stakeholders, that would accord degree granting power to universities, is one way to supplement the process of setting up universities through legislation. The regulator would also be responsible for monitoring standards and settling disputes. This will streamline regulation of higher education in the country which at present is marked by a multiplicity of regulators, often with overlapping mandates. A plethora of regulations

without adequate autonomy or accountability for institutions has resulted in a system that is over regulated and under governed.

To ensure quality NKC has called for reform of existing universities including frequent curricula revisions, introduction of course credit system, enhancing reliance on internal assessment, encouraging research, and reforming governance of institutions. Further, there is an urgent need to restructure the system of affiliated undergraduate colleges which no longer provides a viable model for quality higher education. Creating more department based unitary universities and giving greater autonomy to existing institutions should be explored. Instead of a single accreditation agency created with state monopoly, multiple accreditation agencies maybe licensed by the IRAHE to do the ratings. Backed by stringent information disclosure norms, this would empower students with reliable information and would be a mechanism for ensuring accountability. Quality may also be enhanced through upgradation of infrastructure, attracting and retaining talented faculty through introducing salary differentials, greater research opportunities, faculty exchange programmes etc

NKC believes that all deserving students should have access to higher education, irrespective of their socio-economic background. While the government heavily subsidizes university education by keeping fees low, there is better value created for this subsidization by

ensuring well funded scholarships and affirmative action that takes into account the multi dimensionality of deprivationDiversifying career opportunities in Science: increasing attractiveness of existing careers and generating new opportunities through collaborations between industry, universities and research institutes.

Provide flexibility to universities to raise fees accompanied by scholarships, fellowships and student loansCreate more universities expanding to around 1500 universities nationwide, to enable India to attain a gross enrolment ratio of at least 15% by 2015

eform existing universities to ensure curricula revisions, introduce course credit system, enhance reliance on internal assessment, encourage research, reform governance etc.

Restructure the system of affiliated undergraduate colleges

Curriculum Development Curriculum should be made contemporary, integrated with other disciplines ensuring regular feedback from stakeholders. Autonomy may be granted to universities, National Law Schools (NLSUs) and other law schools to decide the core and optional courses to be offered. This is a departure from current practice where the BCI largely determines curricula and syllabi. A committee

should be formed that includes faculty and practitioners and seeks student feedback to discuss curricula, syllabi and reading material of all core and optional courses, and devise a ‘model’ syllabus for all core and optional courses. Law schools and universities would be free to use and depart from the ‘model’ syllabus. Law teaching must be interwoven with related contemporary issues, including international and comparative law perspectives. The curricula and syllabi must be based in a multidisciplinary body of social science and scientific knowledge. Curriculum development should include expanding the domain of optional courses, providing deeper understanding of professional ethics, modernizing clinic courses, mainstreaming legal aid programmes and developing innovative pedagogic methods. Legal education must also be socially engaged and sensitize students on issues of social justice

Examination SystemThe prevailing examination systems may be revised and evaluation methods be developed that test critical reasoning by encouraging essential analytical, writing and communication skills. The end-semester examination should be problem-oriented, combining theoretical and problem oriented approaches rather than merely test memory. Project papers, project and subject viva, along with an end-semester examination to be considered as pedagogic methods imperative for improving quality

Developing a Research Tradition in Law Schools and UniversitiesCreating a tradition of research in law schools and universities is imperative if India has to transform itself from being only a consumer of available legal knowledge to being a leading producer in the world of new legal knowledge and ideas. The following measures are required to develop such a serious culture of research: emphasizing analytical writing skills and research methodology as integral aspects of the LL.B programme; creating excellent infrastructure (including research friendly library facilities, availability of computers and Internet; digitization of case law; access to latest journals and legal databases

Dispatch of 1854

Indian education is marked by Sir CharlesWood's epoch-making Dispatch of 1854, which led to (1) the creation of a separatedepartment for the administration of education in each province, (2) the founding ofthe universities of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras in 1857, and (3) the introduction ofa system of grants-in-aid. Even when the administration of India passed from theEast India Company into the hands of the British crown in 1858, Britain's secretary ofstate for India confirmed the educational policy of Wood's Dispatch

The newly established universities did not initially undertake any teaching

responsibilities but were merely examining bodies. Their expenses were confined to

administration and could be met from the fees paid by the candidates for their

degrees and certificates. The then existing 27 colleges were affiliated to these three

universities. Later on more universities were established. At the time of independence in 1947, there were 19 universities and several hundred affiliated

colleges (CABE, 2005).

There has been an appreciable growth in the number of universities and

colleges in India since independence from 25 and 700 in 1947 to 354 and 17625

in 2005. The total enrolment increased from a meager 0.1 million in 1947 to

10.48 million in 2005 resulting in twelve fold increase in number of university

There are significant differences in their mandate, powers and functions. The

councils have rules and regulations of their own. There is large overlap of their

functions with the functions of the UGC, other professional councils and even

function of universities in some cases. In five cases, namely - Medical Council of

India, Pharmacy Council of India, All India Council for Technical Education, Indian

Nursing Council and the Bar Council of India, there are also State Councils; and

there are overlaps in functions of the national councils and state councils.