Opinion: The missing ‘E’ in Higher Education
In the race towards profiteering, HEIs are forgetting that education is a movement and not labour force-generating factories
By Adapureddy Nagesh Babu
Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar said, “Education is what makes a person fearless, teaches him the lesson of unity, makes him aware of his rights and inspires him to struggle for his rights”. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), ideally, should churn out graduates with an enquiring mind who can truly participate and build a robust democracy and civilised society. Higher education is not only an economic idea but a socio-democratic idea too.
Wrong Focus
Unfortunately, a majority of HEIs fail to understand the intrinsic value of education. The focus in higher education has always been on Enrolment, Employment and Entrepreneurship, completely neglecting the most important ‘E’ ie, Empathy. Empathy is the ability to share others’ feelings or experiences by imagining oneself in others’ situations/lives.
Since independence, the governments, both at the State and national levels, have focused on increasing the enrolments in higher education at a significantly successful rate. India has grown from 19 universities in 1950 to 132 universities in 1980 and 1,113 universities in 2021, where the gross enrolment ratio (GER) increased from 0.7% to 5% and 27.3%, respectively, during the period.
The central government has been establishing HEIs like IITs, IIMs, central universities and other prominent institutions with the aim of creating employment and entrepreneurship. Though measures were taken to improve the enrolment, employment and entrepreneurship spirit, the focus on value-led education with a humane touch has taken a back seat.
Little Guidance
When there is an increase in enrolments, the HEIs have more students at their hands to shape them into empathetic human beings who can contribute positively to building an ideal society. However, students are being trained to perform under immense pressure like machines. To top this, there is rarely any support or guidance from the institutions, forcing some to even take extreme measures like ending their lives.
As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of students who committed suicide in India rose by 70% between 2011 and 2021. One can imagine the degree of helplessness these students must have encountered. Moreover, the ones who survive or win the so-called system do not transform but just transmit the mistakes of their predecessors, contributing to the endless vicious cycle. The question then arises is — till when?
Higher education has become a means for many to profit from the nascent aspirations of the youth. In the race towards profiteering, HEIs are forgetting that education is a movement. While many lack the basic capacity to impart quality education, the ones that do, operate as labour force-generating factories. For the latter, they must not forget that higher education is not only about ensuring the highest packages or placements. They have a greater role to play in nation-building by producing graduates who can act as informed citizenry in society. They should not only equip students with employable skills but also form inquisitive minds and empathetic hearts. They must mould graduates to enable them to make informed and rational decisions, exercise their rights and duties, treat fellow human beings with mutual respect and empathy, and eradicate barriers to celebrate diversity.
Achieving Purpose
Though we as a nation are marching technically forward at a great pace, it is very unfortunate that we are going empathetically backwards in our thought process and responsiveness. Our nation may not march ahead quickly, and diversity may not be sustained if the educated citizenry with their heart, mind and soul, does not participate in decision-making by exercising their rights and duties diligently.
Education that only makes a person capable of working but does not teach him/her equality and morality is not true education. True education cradles humanity, generates sources of livelihood, imparts wisdom and imbues us with egalitarianism, Ambedkar said. The very idea of education is character building of students and equipping them with qualities like Empathy, Integrity and Responsibility.
The purpose of higher education is to make a difference in society and not become indifferent to the happenings in society. It is true that there are islands (HEIs) of excellence in a vast ocean of higher education ecosystem in our country that transform students from individuals into informed, enlightened and empathetic personalities. However, India needs more of these HEIs to build a strong, rational and empathetic nation advocating for global peace and harmony ie, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.
It is more relevant to conclude in the words of Charlie Chaplin’s 1940s film ‘The Great Dictator’: “We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”
