Governance of Technical Education in India: Key Issues, Principles and Case Studies

Governance of Technical Education in India: International Case Studies is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion.

Reforms are imperative for the huge and complex technical education system in India. A recent Learning Forum brought together senior policy makers and institutional leaders that elaborated a nine-point agenda to achieve good governance, a key to successful reforms in this area. The forum agenda and this paper build upon studies summarizing generic trade-offs, challenges, and experiences, from five Indian state governments, and global failures and successes, to balance demands for greater institutional autonomy with the government's need to direct strategic economic development and enhance participation in higher education.

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"Tertiary education, particularly technical and engineering education, is critical to realize the Indian dream of becoming a competitive player in the global knowledge economy. As part the endeavor to improve quality of educational institutions in the tertiary sector, the aim has been to enhance their autonomy. Autonomy and accountability go hand in hand. The situation calls for continuous learning on the part of institutions---how to respond to the rapidly changing environment without compromising quality---I am extremely happy to know that the Learning Forum convened under the aegis of TEQIP, including this publication, has deliberated these issues in great length and depth. I am sure that the outcomes shall be extremely useful to fine-tuning our technical education programmes." Kapil Sibal Minister of Human Resource Development Government of India