While there are reliable statistics about primary and secondary schools, currently available numbers for higher education are severely inadequate, said Sunil Kumar, additional secretary for higher education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Addressing a conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry late last month, he said the survey would map the number of students according to their course of study. Preparations for the exercise are due to be finalized early this year.
The survey is part of a drive by the government as it plans a decade-long expansion to more than double the number of higher education institutions in India. India’s education minister, Kapil Sibal, has pledged to increase the proportion of students enrolled in colleges and universities from 12.4 percent to 30 percent by 2020.
Experts have warned that sharply increasing capacity could affect the quality of education. To address these and other concerns, the government has introduced a bill to set up a new regulatory body, the National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
— VIR SINGH
France adds 22 universities to ‘autonomous’ list
An additional 22 French public universities will be granted control of their budget and personnel choices in 2011, bringing to almost 90 percent the proportion of universities to become “autonomous” from the central government, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research announced last week, though the schools will continue to depend upon state funding.
In a first in France, five universities will also gain control of the real estate of their campuses.
The changes come as part of a 2007 reform, brought by the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, that aims to see the country’s 83 public universities managed as independent institutions. Historically, the central government has maintained control over each university’s spending, personnel and real estate management, and even course offerings.
The government hopes to spur the universities to become more streamlined and competitive.
French student organizations and professors’ unions have broadly contested the reform, saying it will create inequalities between institutions and place undue stress upon instructors and researchers. — SCOTT SAYARE
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