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QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA'S NORTH-EASTERN REGION

(Author : - Dr. Tanusree Sarker | Department :- Political Science )

QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA’S NORTH-EASTERN REGION

Dr.Tanusree Sarker

Department of Political Science, Women’s College, Tinsukia,,Assam

Abstract: The quality of higher education in India’s North-Eastern Region is almost same as other parts of the country. At present the average literacy rate of this region is higher than national literacy rate but the region is backward comparing to other states. Poverty, unemployment and insurgency are common in this region. The chief objective of higher education is to provide employability and good human being but it is found that higher education is failed to provide adequate employment among the youths. This article makes an attempt to find out the ways for the improvement of quality education. Both human rights education and entrepreneurship education is necessary in this hour to provide quality education among the youths. Human rights education help them to understand the value of peace and humanity on the other hand entrepreneurship education can open a number of lines for self employment.

Keywords: Employment, Entrepreneurship, Higher Education, Human rights, North Eastern Region, Peace, Value education .

 

      The higher education that we are experiencing to-day started in our country after the advent of the East India Company from England.   Many universities and colleges were established during that time but those were not properly organized. In 1904, the Indian universities Act was passed to bring changes in the organization, pattern, jurisdiction, powers, administration etc. and accordingly the number of colleges and universities were increased to suit the needs and changes of our society. After independence, the National policy of education was announced in 1968 which aims at not only developing manpower for serving the economy but also developing crucial values like empowerment of knowledge, skills and values. India’s national policy of education was revised in 1992. This new education policy states that, “Higher education provided people with an opportunity to reflect on the critical social, economical, cultural, moral and spiritual issues facing humanity. It contributes to national development through dissemination of specialized knowledge and skills. It is therefore, a crucial factor for survival.”(‘Professional competency in higher education’; S. Neelameghan & N.K. Uberoi). In the present context, we are witnessing several paradigm shifts in higher education. We are shifting from national to global education, state control to open market economy, education for a few to education for all, teacher centered to learner centered, and one time education to lifelong education.

 

           Let us now examine the scenario of higher education in North Eastern Region. Like the rest of India, this region is also gearing up to confront the challenges of higher education and to implement various plans for quality improvement of higher education. The region’s average literacy is 76.6% which is little better than national literacy rate (74.4% as reported in Sept. 9, 2013). Tripura has topped with 94.65%, whereas the literacy rate in Nagaland (63.71%) is below the average national literacy rate. The literacy rate in other states of NE Region are Mizoram-89.9%, Manipur- 79.85%, Sikkim- 76.6%, Assam-76.3%, Meghalaya- 72.1%, Arunachal Pradesh- 66.95%. The picture is not bad at all. Now let us see the number of higher educational institutions in this part of India.  Assam has 369 higher educational institutions including medical college, engineering college, general degree college and universities. The number of higher educational institutions in Manipur is 62, Meghalaya-56, Nagaland-42, Mizoram-28, Tripura-20, Arunachal Pradesh-17 and Sikkim has only eight(08) higher educational institutions. Besides, there are a number of private college and universities in the region catering more than 3, 00,000 students.

 

            A sound higher education system supports and enhances the process of economic and social development for a better future. The education system in our country increases literacy rate but not self-sufficiency. All the states of this region have witnessed a number of insurgency movements since independence. The important reasons behind this problem are unemployment and lack of human rights education. Thus, this article focuses on the importance of human rights education and entrepreneurship education to improve the quality of higher education of this region.  

          Article 26(2) of the universal declaration of human rights states that ‘everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free at least in the elementary and fundamental stages……..Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit’. According to article 78, of the Vienna Declaration and programme of action 1993 human rights consider human rights education, training and public information essential for the promotion and achievement of stable, harmonious relations among communities for mutual understanding, tolerance and peace. The growing unrest and tension among the student communities compel us to think for human rights education which is necessary to

ü  Strengthen respect for human rights

ü  Develop fully human personality

ü  Develop attitude and behavior to promote and respect for others

ü  Promote understanding and tolerance among diverse national, ethnic , religious  and linguistic groups

ü  Empower people to participate actively in different social activities.

       Human rights education should include peace, democracy, development and social justice as set forth in international and regional human rights instruments in order to achieve common understanding and awareness among the nations with a view to strengthen universal commitment to human rights. Now let us see how to impart human rights education. Literacy programme to educate the people on human rights have been carried on by various agencies in the later part of the 20th century. Among these agencies the role plays by the distance education institutions, televisions and all India radio. UGC has made attempt to enrich education curriculum of human rights education in colleges and universities on the basis of contemporary societal and economic situation.

 

             Another important aim of education is to produce self-sufficient human beings. But our education system is lacking to produce self-sufficient human being. It is our inability to give our students concrete guidance with respect to career options and possibilities. Without the placement dimension, the education that we impart is meaningless and incomplete. The objective of five year plan was to generate adequate employment but unemployment has taken a disproportionate and alarming turn. The unemployment problem in NE Region has led to the proliferation of social problems. One of the major factors of growing social tension and insurgency in this region is unemployment as the unutilized energy of frustrated unemployed youth is increasingly being invested in terrorism which has undermined the economic and political stability of the entire region. The steady decline of employment opportunities in both public and private sector enterprises has left the educated youths with very few job options. Hence it becomes the part of our duty to equip our students for gainful self employment after completion of their study. Thus, there is the importance of entrepreneurship education as a parallel programme for creating the vital link between the university education and generating employment.

 

             Entrepreneurship education springs from an innovative idea. The idea must be subtly integrated in the syllabus of all subjects. The concept of entrepreneurship must form a part of the curriculum right from the time a child enters formal education till he passes out the degree level by around 21 years. Introducing the subject informally from the very beginning of formal education will benefit the dropouts also. Hence, the entrepreneurship education can improve the quality of higher education in accordance with the need of the society. Let us now make the action plan for institutionalizing this education:

ü  Parallel training programme and awareness camps for both students and guardians on entrepreneurial activities and self-employment resources.

ü  Co-relate entrepreneurial education with other subjects in the curriculum.

ü  An active Information and Career Guidance Cell(ICGC) is a must in every college. The ICGC should be the link between the student’s college life and career life.

Besides, there should be a formal entrepreneurship course beyond college level. The Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE) Guwahati, a national level institute imparts training to students of college and universities through its faculty development programmes on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial orientation programmes. These programmes are being sponsored by the Department of science and technology, Govt. of India, North Eastern Council, Shillong and Small Development Bank of India. The IIE promotes the establishment of ICGCs in the higher educational institutions, supply various information regarding opportunities for self employment and entrepreneurship.

 

           The ultimate purpose of human rights education is to create a culture of human rights and to develop a democratic society that enables individuals and groups to solve their disagreements and conflicts by the use of non violent methods. This kind of education will increase the sense of awareness about their rights and responsibilities and help them to participate in societal activities. At the same time entrepreneurship education must need to be adopted as a sustained and integrated system in the higher educational institutions so as to enhance the quality of education impartial in terms of applicable utility and social relevance. It is hoped that if human rights education and entrepreneurship education be imparted side by side along with the formal education in the colleges of this region , the future generation will enjoy economic prosperity and freedom which leads to a peaceful democratic society in the true sense of the term.

 

REFERENCES:

1.      Best practices in Higher Education with special references to the colleges of North-East India( unpublished work: collection of seminar abstracts)

2.      Mali D.D. :Entrepreneurship development in the North East; IIE, Guwahati,2000

3.      Neelameghan S.K. & Uberoi, N.K.: Professional competency in higher education, University of Delhi, 2000

4.      News Papers like The Assam Tribune, Dainik Janambhumi, Asomiya Pratidin etc.

 

 

 




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