Indian Education System Through the Lens of a Deemed University

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the higher education system in the Republic of India with specific emphasis on a model institution known as a deemed university. The Republic of India is the largest democracy in the world and this chapter offers an overview of the different educational institutions and practices. The chapter provides an analysis of a deemed university’s accreditation, critical aspects, and challenges in the higher education setting.

Education is an important and interwoven fabric for the socio-economic growth of the country and holds a special place in India. In India, education is integrally and intimately connected with the culture. Culturally, the value of education has deep rooted perceptions and position, as a part of the societal norm in the country. Historically, Indians believe that education makes their children better, responsible, and productive members of the society.

It is essential to understand the differences between the Indian education system and its western counterparts for better context and understanding. The concept of liberal arts is not widely accepted in the Indian education system, although several institutions provide liberal arts programs and degrees. The mainstream of education is in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM), and medical sciences. In general, the Indian education system provides strong theoretical knowledge compared to the western countries that follow a more practice-based approach. The concept of sports with education is very isolated, and higher educational institutions do not entertain athletes or promote sportsmanship. Learning is the sole focus of education. Not to be misunderstood, physical education, which is an integral part of institutions. India views learning as a process to gain knowledge, whereas western countries view learning as a process of experiencing. In India, assessment is done through exam results or scores compared to the evaluation based on projects, group work/discussions in other countries. The communication between students and faculty is very respectful and limited to classrooms with little interaction outside the school due to the culture.

The growth of the Indian economy has accelerated the revolution in education. India is on track to become the world’s third largest economy by 2027, surpassing Japan and Germany, and have the third largest stock market by 2030, thanks to global trends and key investments the country has made in technology and energy (Morgan Stanley, 2022). India is already the fastest-growing economy in the world, having clocked 5.5% average gross domestic product growth (GDP) over the past decade (Morgan Stanley, 2022). Now, three megatrends—global offshoring, digitalization, and energy transition—are setting the scene for unprecedented economic growth in the country of more than 1 billion people (Morgan Stanley, 2022).

The geographic location of India plays a pivotal role in attracting international students from the neighboring countries, such as, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Due to the increase in the interest in international students to call India their education home, the country is dubbed as the education hub for the region. In the last few years, the Ministry of External Affairs has made a conscientious effort to work on improving ties with countries across the globe, forming several student exchanges program initiatives.

Market size of education industry across India in financial year 2020 was 117 billion U.S. dollars, with an estimated growth to 225 billion U.S. dollars for 2025 (Statista, 2022).

According to a survey conducted in 2021 and results released in 2023, there are over 48,000 international students enrolled in India during the academic year 2021 (Kanwal, 2023). These numbers are crucial to the Indian government, not just for the financial incentive, but also to continue to provide the value and quality education to students and continue to maintain partnership with allies.