FINANCING OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN TAMILNADU
Abstract
The economic development of developed nations proves the importance of non-material investment in human capital and also establishes that economic development depends vitally on the creation of educated labour force and ready to accept and promote economic development and technical change. High levels of education and literacy lead to a greater awareness and also contributes in improvement of economic conditions. It acts as a catalyst for social upliftment enhancing the returns on investment made in almost every aspect of development effort, be it population control, health, hygiene, environmental degradation control, empowerment of women and weaker sections of society.
There is a greater hope, when suitable climate is created for human resources development. This climate has to be mainly provided by the educational institutions. Human resource development is needed to create a dynamic and growth-oriented society. While development of physical resources is a means to an end, the development of human resources is an end in itself. A balance between liberal and instrumental education is necessary for a holistic social outcome.
The demand for higher education has not only grown quantitatively but has also become more diverse. New communication technologies and the internet proved a new opportunities for a more flexible delivery of higher education, thereby creating a new demand in some countries and meeting demand in others where traditional institutions are incapable to do so.
The international demand for higher education has also invited new providers from outside the higher education sector to enter the scene. The business of borderless education comprises various forms and developments among to which also combinations are possible, such as new for-profit private universities, corporate universities, media companies delivering educational programmes, professional associations becoming directly active in higher education, and companies with high training needs establishing their own training facilities. Many of these new providers extensively use the internet as delivery channel, in some cases they develop into real cyber-universities with a very limited physical presence.
The various regulatory bodies regulating higher education have constituted an autonomous body for monitoring quality standards in the institutions under their purview. For example, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) by UGC, National Board of Accreditation (NBA) by AICTE, Accreditation Board (AB) by ICAR, Distance Education Council (DEC) by NCTE though, there exists autonomous bodies for assessment and monitoring quality standards in the institutions of higher education they suffer from two major deficiencies.
First, the quality norms of such councils are not comparable with international standards. Secondly, the enforcement process is not stringent. Further political interference and corruption dilute the role and impact of these intuitions in ensuring the desired quality standards.
