Waltz of opportunities & hurdles

The story of higher education in India has been a complex interplay of opportunities and obstacles. Since the establishment of the earliest universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay in 1857, India now has over 1,100 universities and 45,000 colleges, catering to over 4 crore students. In spite of this growth of over 70 times since Independence, India still has an enrolment ratio of about 28 per cent, which is the lowest among G20 nations.

On the one hand, there is the monumental challenge of stepping up enrolment for the under-privileged and the disabled, while on the other, India’s educational institutions are struggling to link academic curricula with developing the skills needed for successful entry into the workforce.

Lack of Quality Research

Key policy initiatives of the Indian Government, including aspects of the National Education Policy 2020, encourage a multidisciplinary approach to learning and flexible curricular structures. However, in a modern university, it is difficult to implement such sweeping changes without particular attention to the introduction of research and encouraging creative thinking.

The main impediment here is the inadequate research ecosystem in most Indian colleges and universities. Research is the cornerstone of knowledge creation and innovation, yet the infrastructure to support meaningful inquiry — from laboratories to funding, from mentorship to collaborative networks — is often limited or missing. Faculty are often overburdened with teaching responsibilities and administrative work, leaving little time or incentive for serious research.

The Employability Paradox

• Every year India produces millions of graduates, yet their employability has not kept up with these numbers. Acoording to the Mercer-Mettl India Graduate Skills Index 2025, employability among Indian graduates has in fact fallen from 44.3% in 2023 to 42.6% in 2024.
• Even the Economic Survey of 2024-2025 estimates that about 51.25% of the youth is deemed employable. This is highly concerning for a nation aspiring to be a global hub of startups, research and innovation and AI, if not the chosen destination for learning for students from all over the world.
• The paradox of rising graduate numbers and low employability is rooted in an outdated pedagogy that prioritises rote learning over critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Many students leave college without transferable skills, communication abilities, and the ability to solve the problems required to thrive in modern work environments.
• Moreover, many students look at college education primarily as a label intended to secure jobs, and don’t pay adequate attention to gaining the skills required for the changing landscape of available jobs.
• As employers increasingly adopt skill-based hiring practices, the lack of job-ready competencies among these graduates becomes even more apparent.

According to the Ministry of Education, almost nine lakh students went abroad for higher education last year. These students have spent $60 billion (Rs 5.1 lakh crore) on acquiring education abroad in 2023. This figure has almost doubled from the $37 billion spent in 2019. This is more than 10 times the annual budget allocated by the Union Government for Higher Education (Rs 44,090 crore or $5.2 billion) in 2023-24.

This trend reflects the strong aspiration among Indian students to study abroad. While factors such as global exposure, access to renowned faculty, and better job prospects play a role, the key attraction remains the world-class research infrastructure and academic environment offered by international universities.

In global rankings, Indian institutions often fall behind due to low-research output and poor citation impact. Worldwide, outside India, most of the research happens in universities and even Nobel Prize winners come from universities. Historically, in India, because of a complex set of reasons, research was separated from the university system. The thought was that because there were very few researchers in independent India, they needed to be protected from students and provided institutions that do only research. While India has largely moved away from this earlier approach, there is still a pressing need to strengthen our commitment and further empower universities to undertake large-scale, cutting-edge research within their own campuses.

Such an environment can spark intellectual curiosity among students and foster a deeper engagement with the process of discovery. The lack of research infrastructure can also be filled with innovative approaches like global partnerships and industry collaborations.

Missing Link

The traditional academic curriculum in most Indian colleges remains largely theoretical and targeted towards a specific job. If you think of what Nalanda taught in the seventh-eighth centuries or even what Newton was taught at Cambridge in the 17th century, there were no divisions between subjects. Everybody had to learn some basic subjects — astronomy, law, literature, religion, mathematics. Divisions were essentially made in the middle of the 19th century, in places like Oxford and Cambridge. The purpose was to train people for certain specialised jobs.

However, today education must completely change itself and focus on skills, on how to process information. There is a pressing need to embed skill-based and experiential learning into the heart of higher education.

Vocational skills, digital literacy, entrepreneurship, and internships must be integrated into degree programmes to ensure that graduates can transition smoothly from classroom to career. The National Education Policy (2020) is visionary in this regard, placing strong emphasis on skill-oriented learning. Yet, traditional, theory-heavy, examination-driven model continues to dominate many institutions and must be fundamentally reimagined to align with the needs of a dynamic global economy.

Universities must also build stronger partnerships with industry to align curricula with market needs. This includes guest lectures by practitioners, project-based learning, real-world case studies and exposure to evolving technologies.

Interdisciplinary Learning

The world today is increasingly complex and interconnected, and solving real-world problems requires the ability to draw on multiple disciplines. Yet, Indian higher education has long been siloed, with rigid boundaries between the arts, sciences, commerce, and engineering. As mentioned earlier, this was largely to make students ready for specialised jobs such as mechanical engineer, data analyst, software developer, amongst others.

Today, a professional may not be confined to one job profile — they are expected to be dynamic and adaptable.

Interdisciplinary education, which allows students to study subjects across domains, fosters well-rounded thinking, creativity, and innovation. At Ashoka University, for instance, we have embraced this liberal and interdisciplinary model wholeheartedly. Students are encouraged to major in one subject while exploring others. An example of this is major in Computer Science and Entrepreneurship. Such an approach helps students develop a broader perspective that is valued in every field.

Faculty Development

The quality of education is intrinsically linked to the quality of teaching. Unfortunately, teacher training and development are often overlooked in the Indian higher education system. We have often followed the template of going to university at 18 and stopping to learn at 21. Teachers are also believed to know-all at 21, and often stop learning, keeping their intellectual growth stagnant. This cannot continue now.

The world is changing fast not only for those graduating today but for everyone. Faculty members need ongoing opportunities to update their knowledge, adopt new pedagogical tools, and engage with global academic trends.

Equally important is the role of mentorship. Students thrive when they have access to faculty who can guide them not only academically but also in terms of career choices, research opportunities, and life skills. Structured mentorship programs, small class sizes, and close faculty-student interaction can significantly enhance the learning experience and student outcomes.

The Urban-Rural Divide

Access to quality higher education is still largely urban-centric in India. Students in rural and remote areas face systemic disadvantages-from inadequate infrastructure to a shortage of trained faculty. While the penetration of internet and digital learning has helped address some gaps, the school and college infrastructure in tier 2-3 cities demand immediate attention.

Additionally, the overall enrolment in higher education must be significantly expanded. Currently, just over 4 crore students are enrolled in higher education institutions across the country, and India’s Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) stands at 28.4% — well below the global average. To truly harness the potential of its young population, India must prioritise both the expansion and equitable distribution of quality higher education.

This goal can be achieved through a multi-pronged approach — by establishing more higher education institutions, especially in underserved regions; encouraging a philanthropic mindset toward funding and supporting education; and significantly expanding scholarships and financial aid to make higher education more accessible and inclusive.

The writer is VC, Ashoka university, Sonepat

What students prefer?

At the undergraduate level, the highest out-turn is in

Demographic dividend

• India accounts for nearly 20% of the world’s young population.
• It is one of the youngest nations in the world with a median age of 28.2 years (World Population Prospects, 2022).
• Youth in the age group of 15-29 years made up 27.2% of the population in 2021, which is expected to decrease to 22.7% by 2036, but will still remain large in absolute numbers at 34.5 crore

(Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections for India and States 2011- 2036, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, July 2020)

(World Economic Forum, 2018)

What it means

A significant advantage since its share of the working-age population is high and rising vis-a-vis its dependent population, with the prospect for many more people to participate in the labour market and contribute to economic growth.

The top 6 States

Student Enrolment

These states account for 53.32% of total student enrolment

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