Why the private sector should be in education
🐓In the debate between private and public B-schools, one would think that public institutes come out as an obvious choice. After all, barely 10 per cent of private institutes are above average and command a reputation akin to public schools. Yet, these schools are coming up as major competition for public schools. Schools such as XIM Bhubaneswar and S.P. Jain among others have developed a reputation for themselves far exceeding that of most public schools. The debate here boils down to not how private schools are better but the unfortunate politicisation and bureaucratisation that public schools are now riddled with.
ꦆOne of the biggest deciders of quality for schools lies in its leadership and faculty. Several private institutes have ensured this. A great leader can mould a school for better learning and excellence. While the private schools are actively taking steps to ensure this, lately, several public institutes, including the IIMs are failing at this.
💦Take for example the reservation debate in the IIMs. Reservation helps many students receive education that they might not be able to afford. The new idea of faculty reservation, though, could not be more preposterous. Intellectual capital in such professional institutes is paramount and is one of the biggest indicators of their reputation. If you bring reservation in teaching, meritocracy within public institutes is completely irradiated. While talking about business institutes, we always talk about the power of the mind and yet, through reservations, we pick up people not on the basis of their qualification or merit. Faculty reservations might work as well if public colleges focused on retraining teachers to the curriculum being taught.
ꦚIIMs and other public colleges are considered to be one of the best within the country and outside. Lately, as the government opens more and more IIMs in the country, the quality of education received has taken a backseat. It’s high time for the government to prioritise quality over quantity.
🍸In a situation such as this, private institutes will emerge as winners. And why not? Along with improving the quality of public education, the government also needs to focus on the betterment of private colleges since there is always a need for quality INStitutes. Governments must consider picking private institutes and converting them into centres for excellence. If such schools are performing well, the government must invest to improve their calibre.
🦩In order to put the private at par with the public sector, there is need to put some kind of pressure on government bodies as well as on such schools themselves. This must start by making education a priority sector for the government. Managing education, especially higher level education, is an extremely complex task. If you see the budgetary allocations, education doesn’t even command six per cent of the GDP. This is only a fraction of what developed countries invest in higher education.
𒁏While certain private institutes have managed to break away from the stereotypes attached and emerged as quality INStitutes, there are still several problems plaguing the private sector today. The most important one is that owners of private colleges consider them to be businesses rather than educational institutes. More importance is put on infrastructure rather than research work and the quality of faculty is bad. Quality faculty is not willing to take up such jobs because such institutes don’t pay well or give their teachers autonomy and freedom for research.
🐟In conclusion, for the private sector to become a quality learning arena, the government needs to put more effort and resources into promoting it. Without this, higher education as a whole will suffer.
As told to Arushi Bedi
Pritam Singh is a former director of IIM Lucknow and former DG, IMI New Delhi
