 "Liberal arts institutes making a comeback")
For decades, India’s philanthropists willing to invest in the country’s higher education sector didn’t have many options. Investments were towards setting up engineering, management and medical colleges across the country and imparting education on a par with some of the best government institutions.
But with a steady rise in the number of institutions imparting education in the engineering, medical and management streams and the market for professional education becoming saturated, educationalists are now discovering an area ignored by the government and the private sector in the past.
Humanities and social sciences, an integral part of the liberal arts, is seeing comeback of sorts, with a number of philanthropists and educationalists investing in this segment. Institutes in this segment include Ashoka University, founded by a set of eminent businessmen such as Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Jerry Rao and Pramath Sinha; OP Jindal University; Shiv Nadar Univerity and BML Munjal University.
But education at these institutions does not come cheap. Fees for liberal arts courses in these institutes vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh a year, significantly higher than what other institutes charge. “At 4 lakh a year in fees and another Rs 1 lakh for hostel and food for four years, the fee is relatively expensive, but very affordable and compelling when you see you pay seven times to attend a top university abroad,” says Sinha of Ashoka.
India has some of the finest liberal arts education institutes—St Stephens College (Delhi), Loyola College (Chennai), St Xaviers College (Kolkata), Presidency College (Kolkata), etc—where annual fees are very low compared to private liberal arts institutes. These institutes have a large number of illustrious alumni. But as entry into these has become tougher through the years, students have struggled.
A few experts have also questioned the quality of education imparted at established institutions. “The problem is a number of these established names have great reputation. But unfortunately, these have outdated curriculum. Today, the number of engineering and medical colleges in the country is more than what the society demands and the shift to liberal arts is a welcome move. Many of the new institutes such as Hero or Jindal are well equipped with modern tools of education and have tie-ups with some of the finest educational institutions,” says Narayanan Ramaswamy, head of education at KPMG.
Liberal arts education institutes that have mushroomed in the past few years have also started offering cross-specialisation, allowing students to choose subjects of their interest, rather than follow a prescribed syllabus. “The central problem in Indian undergraduate education is the focus on specialised undergraduate programmes, which have little or no opportunities for interdisciplinary education. The heart of any liberal arts education is an interdisciplinary curriculum and humanity in the pedagogy. They would like to combine the study of one discipline with another; most existing colleges do not allow such an opportunity,” says C Raj Kumar, vice-chancellor, O P Jindal Global University.
Ashoka University will start operations from the next academic year, while the Hero Group will launch its liberal arts education institute in 2015. O P Jindal and Shiv Nadar universities have already established their institutes.
“Liberal arts have huge potential in India and are the need of the hour. We need students who can think and communicate well and recruiters are also on the lookout for these qualities now,” Akshay Munjal, executive director at BML Educorp Services.
The shift towards setting up liberal arts institutes has come as a boon for many Indian faculty currently teaching abroad. These institutes are offering pay scales of Rs 1.5-4 lakh a month, in addition to accommodation and other facilities.
But with a steady rise in the number of institutions imparting education in the engineering, medical and management streams and the market for professional education becoming saturated, educationalists are now discovering an area ignored by the government and the private sector in the past.
Humanities and social sciences, an integral part of the liberal arts, is seeing comeback of sorts, with a number of philanthropists and educationalists investing in this segment. Institutes in this segment include Ashoka University, founded by a set of eminent businessmen such as Sanjeev Bhikchandani, Jerry Rao and Pramath Sinha; OP Jindal University; Shiv Nadar Univerity and BML Munjal University.
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“We were keen to direct our philanthropy to higher education because everyone knows the quality of India’s higher education is generally poor and we are not creating enough institutions of high quality. Instead of building another engineering school or business school, we felt we should solve an unsolved problem and do something no one else was doing. We firmly believe the breadth and depth of a liberal education is required to build 21st century skills,” says Pramath Sinha, founder of Ashoka University. Sinha was also founding dean, Indian School of Business.
But education at these institutions does not come cheap. Fees for liberal arts courses in these institutes vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh a year, significantly higher than what other institutes charge. “At 4 lakh a year in fees and another Rs 1 lakh for hostel and food for four years, the fee is relatively expensive, but very affordable and compelling when you see you pay seven times to attend a top university abroad,” says Sinha of Ashoka.
India has some of the finest liberal arts education institutes—St Stephens College (Delhi), Loyola College (Chennai), St Xaviers College (Kolkata), Presidency College (Kolkata), etc—where annual fees are very low compared to private liberal arts institutes. These institutes have a large number of illustrious alumni. But as entry into these has become tougher through the years, students have struggled.
A few experts have also questioned the quality of education imparted at established institutions. “The problem is a number of these established names have great reputation. But unfortunately, these have outdated curriculum. Today, the number of engineering and medical colleges in the country is more than what the society demands and the shift to liberal arts is a welcome move. Many of the new institutes such as Hero or Jindal are well equipped with modern tools of education and have tie-ups with some of the finest educational institutions,” says Narayanan Ramaswamy, head of education at KPMG.
Liberal arts education institutes that have mushroomed in the past few years have also started offering cross-specialisation, allowing students to choose subjects of their interest, rather than follow a prescribed syllabus. “The central problem in Indian undergraduate education is the focus on specialised undergraduate programmes, which have little or no opportunities for interdisciplinary education. The heart of any liberal arts education is an interdisciplinary curriculum and humanity in the pedagogy. They would like to combine the study of one discipline with another; most existing colleges do not allow such an opportunity,” says C Raj Kumar, vice-chancellor, O P Jindal Global University.
Ashoka University will start operations from the next academic year, while the Hero Group will launch its liberal arts education institute in 2015. O P Jindal and Shiv Nadar universities have already established their institutes.
“Liberal arts have huge potential in India and are the need of the hour. We need students who can think and communicate well and recruiters are also on the lookout for these qualities now,” Akshay Munjal, executive director at BML Educorp Services.
The shift towards setting up liberal arts institutes has come as a boon for many Indian faculty currently teaching abroad. These institutes are offering pay scales of Rs 1.5-4 lakh a month, in addition to accommodation and other facilities.