There has been phenomenal expansion in the field of higher education in post independence India. A poor and backward country that India had been in the post independence period every penny spent on education was a long term investment which did not give immediate returns. While as the government of independent India appointed the first commission on higher education for suggesting reforms in the field of university education it was expressed from many quarters that the scarce resources were being spent on elementary education. The Government of India took the considered decision of modernizing the Indian Higher education in the first-phase of modernization of Indian education. This led to beside other things opening of new universities, colleges and institutions of higher learning and research laboratories.
This is true that the per capita expenditure on higher education has been the lowest as compared to the developed countries of the west, higher education expanded rather rapidly in India due to the modernization factor. New universities were opened at the time of the general elections to satisfy the popular demands. This of course led to deterioration in standards of higher education. Universities were opened without providing ample funds and other necessary infrastructure like buildings and equipment.
There have been regional considerations also responsible for the rapid expansion of higher education. Backward areas like Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh had to be provided with universities on democratic considerations.
The development of higher education in India thus faces the challenge of quantity versus quality and a strategy had to be evolved to arrive at an acceptable balance between the two demands.
The Secondary Education Commission popularly known as Mudaliar Commission stressed the need for a good secondary education in the overall scheme of education.
The secondary education commission highlighted the need for technical education at the secondary level. The secondary education commission made recommendations for curriculum and examination reforms in the field of secondary education. |
