BMS COLLEGE OF

ENGINEERING

RESEARCH PAPER ON
COMPARISON OF HIGHER
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN
EUROPE AND INDIA

M&E SELF STUDY

NAME:
LIKHIT B
MALCOLM IAN D’SOUZA
 CONTENTS

SL NO. TITLE PAGE

1 Abstract 1
2 Introduction 2
3 Indian Higher 3-4
education system
4 European Higher 5-6
education system
5 Case study 7
6 Conclusion 8
Abstract
India’s higher education system is regarded to be the third largest in the world.
With over 8% of the Indian population being graduates, the Indian higher
education system is expanding at a rapid pace, with a large share of tertiary
education focusing on science and technology. As per the latest census of 2011,
there has been an addition of nearly 80 lakh students. With the increasing
number of students, the repetitive and stagnant education system, newer
graduates are less equipped to face the requirements of the industry, with no
facilities for making students familiar with the current trends in their field of
work.
In comparison, the education system in the European Union emphasises on a
greater understanding of the practical aspects involved and makes it necessary
for the students to have some kind of prior relationship or experience in their
specific field of work before graduation. It has to be noted that the education
system is not all bells and whistles, and does have its own faults.
This paper aims to compare the higher education sector in the European Union
and India, and tries to establish similarities and differences, as well as provide
solutions and reforms.
Introduction
The structure of the higher education system in India is divided as follows:
1. State Universities
2. Central Universities
3. Deemed Universities
4. Private Universities
5. Autonomous Universities
6. Research Universities
The central universities in India are mainly funded by the University Grants
Commission (UGC), while the state universities are funded by the provincial
governments, although it is possible for them to acquire funds from the UGC.
According to a study conducted by Surja Dutta in the year 2017, nearly
1,50,000 students were enrolled in central universities, whereas about 67 lakh
students where admitted in state/provincial universities. This marks a high
degree of decentralization, with roughly 98% of the students studying in state
universities.
On the other side, every country in Europe has its own education system,
however, they are all established under the European Higher Education Area
(EHEA). This system helps ensure that all the systems are compatible
throughout the union and all its researches and academics are able to collaborate
and study abroad easily. Qualifications achieved in the country can be compared
with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF).
The Indian education system is lagging behind from the modern education
system. They still believe in evaluation based on examinations there is not much
importance given to the practical approach of learning a subject.
Whereas, the European Higher Education system as a more hands approach to
learning compared to the Indian system.
Nowadays, private universities in India are following the European approach by
putting out their students in industries to give them more working experience.
But this method as not been as successful as it was expected to be India. Let us
look more into it in the next segment.
Indian Higher Education System

India's higher education system is the world's third largest in terms of students, next to China
and the United States. Unlike China, however, India has the advantage of English being the
primary language of higher education and research. India educates approximately 11 per cent
of its youth in higher education as compared to 20 per cent in China.
Some institutions of India, such as the Indian Institutes of technology (IITs), have been
globally acclaimed for their standard of education. The IITs enrol about 8000 students
annually and the alumni have contributed to both the growth of the private sector and the
public sectors of India. However, India has failed to produce world class universities like
Harvard and Cambridge. According to the London Times Higher Education (2009)-
Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University rankings, no Indian university features among
the first 100.
The country lacks the critical mass in higher education. Its gross enrolment ratio (GER) is a
mere 11 per cent compared to China's 20 per cent, the USA's 83 per cent and South Korea's
91 per cent. This means that in comparison to India, China has double the number of students
pursuing higher education. The Eleventh Five Year Plan envisages increase in the Gross
Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 15 per cent of the population in the age cohort
group of 18-24 years by 2011-12. This requires a substantial increase in the number of
institutions and consequently would require an adequate number of teachers for imparting
education. Failure to redress the faculty shortage would hamper the achievement of the
targets for increase in GER set out by Government.
The overall scenario of higher education in India does not match with the global Quality
standards. Hence, there is enough justification for an increased assessment of the Quality of
the country’s educational institutions. Traditionally, these institutions assumed that Quality
could be determined by their internal resources, viz., faculty with an impressive set of
degrees and experience detailed at the end of the institute’s admission brochure, number of
books and journals in the library, an ultra-modern campus, and size of the endowment, etc.,
or by its definable and assessable outputs, viz., efficient use of resources, producing uniquely
educated, highly satisfied and employable graduates.
India can no longer continue the model of general education as it has been persisting in for
the large bulk of the student population. Rather, it requires a major investment to make
human resource productive by coupling the older general disciplines of humanities, social
sciences, natural sciences and commerce to their applications in the new economy and having
adequate field-based experience to enhance knowledge with skills and develop appropriate
attitudes.
Research in higher education institutions is at its lowest ebb. There is an inadequate and
diminishing financial support for higher education from the government and from society.
Many colleges established in rural areas are non-viable, are under-enrolled and have
extremely poor infrastructure and facilities with just a few teachers.
Some of the statistics of the Indian Education system is given below. (Courtesy of AISHE)
European Education System

Despite the best efforts of EU governments, youth unemployment remains

unacceptably high at roughly 18%. Whilst this does represent an improvement
over previous years (it was over 23% in 2013), and there is obviously a great
deal of variety between European countries (in Germany, only 7% of young
people are unable to find a job, whereas in Greece the figure is over 50%), there
are still a heck of a lot of young Europeans out of work.
Yet, alarmingly, some surveys suggest that almost 30% of employers have
difficulty filling vacancies. So, is this a problem of the broader economy (i.e.
there just aren’t enough jobs to go around), or are young people being badly
prepared for the job market? The International Labour Office (ILO) reported in
2014 that, “on average, the level of skills mismatch is considerable in Europe”,
and argues that it is contributing to higher costs for business, workers, and
society.
The infographic given below will throw a better light into the subject.
(Courtesy: https://www.debatingeurope.eu/2016/08/01/how-can-european-
education-systems-be-improved/#.Xe5YaW5uJPZ)
Case Study: Comparison of Education system in
Finland and India
Conclusion

Both the countries have their fair share of pros and cons. India should integrate some of the
pros of the European Education System. They need to inculcate Industry and Academia
connection necessary to ensure curriculum and skills in line with requirements. The new
technologies offer vast opportunities for progress in all walks of life. It offers opportunities
for economic growth, improved health, better service delivery, improved learning and socio-
cultural advances.
The world is entering into an Information Age and developments in communication,
information and technology will open up new and cost-effective approaches for providing the
reach of higher education to the youth as well as to those who need continuing education for
meeting the demands of explosion of information, fast-changing nature of occupations, and
lifelong education. Knowledge, which is at the heart of higher education, is a crucial resource
in the development of political democracy, the struggle for social justice and progress
towards individual enlightenment.
All round development of personality is the purpose of education. But the present-day
education is neither imparting true knowledge of life and nor improving the talent of a
student by which one can achieve laurels in the field one is interested. So, combination of arts
subjects and computer science and science and humanities or literature should be introduced
so that such courses could be useful for the students to do jobs after recruitment in some
companies which would reduce unnecessary rush to higher education. The programme must
be focused on graduate studies and research and developing strategies and mechanisms for
the rapid and efficient transfer of knowledge and for its application to specific national and
local conditions and needs. Meritorious doctoral students should be recognized through
teaching assistantships with stipends over and above the research fellowships.
To attain and sustain national, regional or international quality, certain components are
particularly relevant, notably careful selection of staff and continuous staff development, in
particular through the promotion of appropriate programs for academic development,
including teaching/learning methodology and mobility between countries, between higher
education institutions and the world of work, as well as student mobility within and between
countries. Internal self-evaluation and external review must be conducted openly by
independent specialists, if possible, with international experts.