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State-specific higher education index by FICCI-EY
but have a more urgent imperative to
e x p a n d a c c e s s f o r a l l . B i h a r,
Chhattisgarh, Assam, Arunachal
Pradesh, and Jharkhand are few
examples. Bihar has the least number of
HEIs per lakh population (only 7) and
has a very high intra-state migrant
students, highlighting disparity among
districts. While Chhattisgarh has less
than 15% (70) colleges are accredited by
NAAC, out of which only 4 have been
rated A, A+.
Once the states have been grouped as per
the EY-FICCI Index, the states can then
take a closer look at what steps are
required to transform their higher
education system. For this, we have
outlined a three-step recommendation
roadmap:
A list of “Core Action Points” that are
common for all states: The starting point
for the journey towards the vision may be
different, but the basic tenets of core
transformation agenda remain similar.
The states can develop a meta-university
(choice of multi-discipline courses from
various colleges) with partner states,
setup and strengthen the State Higher
Education Councils (SHECs), foster
competition and collaboration for
research among institutes, etc.
Interventions specific for the four
groups, including long term
recommendations and a 300-day road
map: States with similar as-is scenario
are grouped together and the roadmaps
for each group have been proposed. The
states could use the 300-day action plan
as a starting point and then look at the
group level recommendations based on
the group they currently belong to. They
may consider to launch initiatives for top
4-5 professional HEIs to reach global
standards, invest in CoEs, incubators,
research networks and IP development,
promote institutional alliances, catalyse
the State Private University Act to drive
private investment, provide graded
strategic and operational autonomy to
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Curriculum November 16 2015
affiliated colleges, offer targeted
scholarships for under-served
communities etc.
State-level recommendations: The
socio-economic considerations are likely
to guide local actions in addition to the
core and group roadmaps. The state
action plan may look at budgetary
constraints, unique demographic and
geographic constraints, and the maturity
of the higher education system.
While the State Governments are taking
several measures to improve their higher
education systems, there is need for them
to play a more active role in transforming
the higher education system. The states
still struggling with basic chall