A new paradigm of public-private partnership (PPP) in the rapidly growing higher eduction sector is on the cards, with a role for corporates in developing the necessary infrastructure. In parallel, the norms for public funding of education as a whole ? which is set to be increased from roughly 1% of GDP at present to 1.5% ? would be revamped with the inclusion of performance incentives.
Senior officials said that the ministry of human resource development (HRD) and the Central Advisory Board of Education would meet here on June 7 to discuss the PPP model for higher education that would likely comprise concession agreements distinct from those for other areas of physical infrastructure like ports, roads and power. Different models are being looked at: Basic infrastructure, outsourcing, equity or hybrid and reverse outsourcing.
The basic infrastructure model will involve the real estate player providing land and others offering education services.
In the reverse outsourcing model, foreign educational institutions will set up campuses in India and deliver lectures to students in India remotely. Under the hybrid model, even Indian institutes can offer education services to other countries.
Sources said the HRD ministry, along with CABE which advises the central and state governments, will formulate the agenda for education for this year. Besides defining the funding parameters and devising suitable PPP models for the sector, the twosome will look at internationalisation in the higher education space, determine alternative modes of delivery and frame a new National Policy on Education, the sources added. The ministry has proposed that the public funding pattern should be norm-based under three broad categories ? mandatory norms for minimum substantive grants to all universities; provision of maintenance grants to all universities based on transparent and objective criteria and performance- linked incentive grants based on assessable outcomes. ?We are working on education guarantee finance schemes and the legislation is being framed,? said a top ministry official. An HRD ministry paper had earlier said that inclusive policy must primarily focus on state-supported expansion of higher education. The idea is to upgrade facilities in the existing publicly funded institutions and make use of the opportunities of under-utilised spaces in these institutions. Also, facilities in non-aided institutions would be improved through an appropriate PPP model. The ministry is also setting up 14 Innovation Universities in the PPP mode under innovative disciplines with the participation of private parties would be encouraged.
Financing of these ventures would be done jointly by the government and the private firms. The ministry has already identified five universities for this project and they will have the freedom to formulate their own policies on admission to programmes and offer scholarships to the top 20% of the student community at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
The forthcoming government-CABE meeting would also deliberate on innovation inculcators to create the necessary linkages between the university, industry, research labs, civil society. This would also be explored under the PPP mode.
