Prime Highlights:
- States and industry collaboration are set to play a key role in transforming India’s higher education system.
- NEP 2020 reforms and digital tools will enable flexible, multidisciplinary, and student-centric learning.
Key Facts:
- Proposed regulatory changes will consolidate higher education regulators under a single umbrella, allowing one-window approvals for institutions.
- India’s demographic dividend and technological advancements create a unique opportunity to scale quality education and research globally.
Background:
States will play a decisive role in shaping the future of higher education in India, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday while addressing the CII Global Higher Education Summit.
Outlining priorities for state governments, Nageswaran said the higher education system must move from a model of tight control to one of stewardship. He stressed the need to address faculty shortages through innovative mechanisms such as appointing professors of practice, shifting from input-based to outcome-based regulation, and encouraging an entrepreneurial mindset within public administration. He also called for differentiated financing of institutions, based on their roles, performance and outcomes.
Highlighting the importance of industry participation, the CEA said industry must become an active partner in the education ecosystem. “Industry can co-design curricula, offer credit-bearing internships, support applied research, share infrastructure, and participate meaningfully in governance,” he said. According to him, collaboration among the Centre, states, industry and citizens can help India move from scale to global leadership in learning, research and ideas.
Nageswaran noted that the timing for higher education reform is unique due to four key factors. India is at a demographic and economic inflection point, with millions of young people set to enter the workforce over the next two decades, making higher education critical to harnessing the demographic dividend. At the same time, global higher education is undergoing a shift, with traditional destination countries facing demographic and fiscal pressures while Asia emerges as a major hub for learning and innovation.
He added that technology has removed long-standing constraints through digital platforms, hybrid learning models, modular credentials and AI-enabled pedagogy, allowing quality education to scale more effectively. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and evolving regulatory thinking, he said, have laid the groundwork for execution with institutional courage.
Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of the National Education Technology Forum, said recent reforms are creating a student-centric ecosystem focused on quality, flexibility and innovation.
Nandini Rangaswamy, Co-Chairperson of the CII National Higher Education Council, said India’s higher education expansion must balance scale with quality and relevance. Emphasising the Education 5.0 framework under NEP 2020, she said competency-based, multidisciplinary and lifelong learning will be critical to preparing India for the future of work.
