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H IGHER EDUCATION SERVICES 135<br />
not mobilise adequate resources for commercial<br />
presence they would be more interested in Mode 4.<br />
India should also undertake commitments in adult<br />
and other education services. Various kinds of training<br />
and other informal educational programmes come<br />
under these two categories. India has already shown<br />
its ability with regard to exporting IT education,<br />
management, and medical training. Some of other<br />
South Asian countries may also like to export informal<br />
education and thus they would want India to undertake<br />
commitments in these two subsectors.<br />
According to the study done by Powar (2007) on<br />
education, India has the third largest higher education<br />
system in the world comprising about 330 universitylevel<br />
institutions, about 16,000 colleges (including<br />
4,500 professional institutions), over 9.5 million<br />
students and approximately 350,000 teachers. Though<br />
the government is the principal contributor of higher<br />
education in the country, Powar suggests, the private<br />
sector is increasingly making a significant contribution<br />
to professional education at the degree level. Another<br />
study by Agarwal (2007) highlights that in terms of<br />
enrolment in higher education India is third largest<br />
system in the world – after the People’s Republic of<br />
China and the United States. With 18,500 institutions,<br />
the country has the distinction of having the highest<br />
number of institutions for higher education in the world<br />
– almost four times that in the US and Europe and<br />
more than seven times the number of institutions in<br />
the People’s Republic of China.<br />
The study further suggests that though the quality<br />
of education imparted by different higher education<br />
institutions in India is admittedly variable, there are<br />
quite a few institutions that provide education of<br />
quality that is comparable with that offered at the best<br />
international institutions. The Indian Institutes of<br />
Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Managements<br />
(IIMs), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), quite<br />
a few central and state universities, and a few privately<br />
managed ‘deemed universities’ are examples. There<br />
exists in India a parallel, non-formal stream of<br />
education in the form of training institutions that<br />
provide skill-oriented programmes while encouraging<br />
its students to register at the same time in bachelor<br />
degree programmes in the conventional universities.<br />
NIIT is a prime example. The non-formal institutions<br />
have differing programmes. The best-known<br />
institution, NIIT, has two ‘domains’. Domain A is an<br />
adaptation of the university structure. Domain B is for<br />
those who do not aspire for a degree and includes shortterm,<br />
skill-oriented courses whose value is determined<br />
by the market.<br />
Rapid growth in the globally integrated Indian<br />
economy has led to a huge demand for skilled human<br />
resource, but the lack of quality and relevance in higher<br />
education is causing an obstacle to filling the gap. India<br />
is facing up to 25% shortage of skilled candidates in<br />
the area of engineering and this problem has surged to<br />
45% level across sectors (Agarwal 2006). In view of<br />
this, it has been suggested that foreign universities<br />
should come to India to form joint ventures with the<br />
universities here and a one year benchmark should be<br />
set for this task. In this regard, Pangariya strongly argues<br />
that entry of private universities, so common around<br />
the world including Bangladesh and the People’s<br />
Republic of China, must be introduced (Pangariya<br />
2007). He further argues that the government has no<br />
resources to expand higher education at a pace consistent<br />
with demand. Nor is it in a position to create many<br />
IITs and IIMs like institutions with public resources.<br />
International providers are entering the Indian<br />
education market in an increasing number. From the<br />
advertisements on academic programmes offered by<br />
foreign providers during 2000–04, it is clear that there<br />
has been an increase in the number of advertisers from<br />
144 in 2000 to 319 in 2004; in the number of providers<br />
recruiting students for their home campuses from 117<br />
to 204; and in the number of providers offering<br />
programmes in India, under Mode 3, from 27 to 144<br />
(Powar 2007). However, Powar suggests, nearly a third<br />
of foreign providers were not universities, and an equal<br />
percentage of their Indian collaborators were not a part<br />
of the formal higher education.<br />
The study by Powar emphasises the importance of<br />
distance education. Distance education programmes<br />
exemplify education supplied through Mode 1. These<br />
programmes take two forms – conventional distance<br />
education using print and audio-visual material and e-<br />
learning through the internet. Conventional distance<br />
education is highly developed in the Asian countries<br />
and is available at low cost. India has eleven open<br />
universities and 102 centres of distance education in<br />
dual mode universities. They provide education at about<br />
40% of the cost of education through the formal mode.<br />
Some Indian universities have recently started offering<br />
degree programmes, through the distance mode, in<br />
countries having a large Indian diaspora. The Indira<br />
Gandhi national open university (IGNOU) is the prime<br />
example.<br />
Cross-border supply through the internet (virtual<br />
education) has immense potential, especially in<br />
disciplines like management and trade that have strong<br />
international components. Some well known training<br />
institutes based in India offer, globally, further