The Challenges Before Higher Education in the 21 Century
Contents: Preface. I. Structural challenges: 1. An overview of challenges. 2. Educational priorities in the 21 century: a global development perspective. 3. Social development through quality education--a historical approach. 4. Some thoughts on the new National Education Policy. 5. Inter-disciplinary education in environmental and development issues: a historical overview. 6. A challenge for graduates in the professional courses. II. Challenges in management and economic aspects of education: 7. Affiliation: an anachronism and an albatross. 8. Decentralization in management. 9. The economics of higher education: implications of the Punnayya Committee Report for state universities. 10. Elections and examinations--are they the most important goals of a university? 11. Prominent citizen's response to a questionnaire survey: Part I: General academic issues. 12. Prominent citizen's response to a questionnaire survey: Part II: Examinations and higher education. 13. Restructuring: The Credit and Semester System (CSS). 14. On the need for introducing a new system: the CSS (Credit and Semester System). III. Gandhian views about education and national development. 15. Some thoughts on the Gandhian approach to education. 16. Gandhiji's relevance in the 21 century. 17. Mahatma Gandhi's impact on education and development: an employment oriented perspective. 18. Mahatma Gandhi and women's education and liberation. 19. Gandhiji's dream yet to come true. Index.
"This book deals with the challenges before higher education in India under three important sections: Structural, managerial and Gandhian.
Structural challenges are presented in six articles on educational priorities in the 21 century India; global development perspectives, social development through quality education at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels and the need for re-vamping education at the lower levels, inter-disciplinary study of educational and environmental development issues and the special challenges before professional graduates, especially engineers and doctors.
Section B examines the outstanding challenges in management and economic aspects of higher education such as the system of affiliation, the economics of higher education in Central and State Universities (the Justice Punnayya Committee Report), and strengths and weaknesses of the present examination system and the responses of prominent citizens obtained from an educational survey and above all, the need for implementing the Credit and Semester System (CSS) in higher education.
The final section in the book presents the important ideas of the Father of the Nation and their relevance in this era of LPG (liberalization, privatisation and globalization).
All the 19 essays in the book are based on the work experience, research and reading done by the author in the educational and administrative fields both in India and abroad. They are also the results of his first-hand observations and experiences at the universities, colleges and schools in Europe, North America and South and Southeast Asia. This book will be of immense use to teaches and student-teachers." (jacket)
