Admission notice

Address infra after biannual intake

Close to four years after the National Education Policy was approved in 2020, more reforms are being introduced. These changes aim to overhaul India’s higher education sector, which concerns over 40 million enrolled students and 2 million teachers employed in higher education institutions (HEIs) dotted across the country. The latest change in this regard is the biannual admission system for all higher education programmes — starting from undergraduate level. The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently allowed universities and HEIs to admit students twice a year — once in July/August and then again in January/February. The move must be welcomed because it is intended to benefit students who may have missed the July-August admission cycle due to delayed examination results, health concerns, or personal matters. They can now join their preferred degree programme without having to wait for one full academic year.

The UGC hopes that adopting this model will not only increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) but also boost international collaborations and student exchanges, thereby improving global competitiveness. This will help align India with international educational standards. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), the all-India average GER in higher education was at 28.4 per cent in 2021-22, which is well above previous years and has been steadily increasing, though there are stark inter-state variations. Transition to a biannual admission system has rightly not been made compulsory. It will be for universities and other HEIs to decide if they want to adopt the new system. Some universities are reportedly considering implementing it from the next academic session as a pilot project for selected courses.

However, there are apprehensions that HEIs adopting the new system may run into several problems. For instance, it is not clear whether these students will fit in with the regular batch and their academic calendar, or whether they will get a fresh start with their academic calendar. If it is the latter, institutions will have students of a particular year with two semesters at any given point in time. Most HEIs do not possess enough manpower, faculty strength, and physical infrastructure like classrooms, libraries, and laboratories to manage the extra intake of students. The UGC recommends a student-teacher ratio of 1:20, but it remains higher at 1:27.

The higher education system in India suffers from a shortage of teachers both in terms of numbers and desired qualifications. Most institutions run by the government also suffer from poor physical infrastructure, including overcrowded classrooms, poor ventilation and sanitation, and unsatisfactory hostel accommodation. For 2024-25, the budgetary allocation for higher education was increased marginally by Rs 3,525 crore, or about 8 per cent, compared to last year, but more spending will be needed to increase the overall quality of education. This is necessary if India is to compete in the global market and maintain its edge, particularly in high-tech services exports. Nonetheless, some private universities may be better placed to adopt the new admission system in the initial stage. This would also help them in collaboration with international universities, which have similar admission systems. For public universities, besides admission, the usual issues of teachers and infrastructure need to be addressed for attaining better outcomes.