Second, the devil is going to be in the detail. Take two examples. Everyone agrees on the need for an independent regulator. But everything will turn on how precisely the powers and functions of this regulator are defined. The Knowledge Commission’s recommendations will need to be refined further to prevent it from becoming another Leviathan. Its must not micro-manage institutions: it must simply empower students’ choices by giving them the right information. It is probably even more important to specify what this regulator should not be able to do. Or take the Foreign Universities Bill. It would better if our approach to foreign universities was part of an overall regulatory overhaul so that there is a level playing field for all institutions. But the last draft of the bill, while well-intentioned, ran the risk of producing the worst of all worlds. It will allow foreign players in. But its requirements will deter good institutions, those more keen on their autonomy, from coming in.

Third, proposals to address the most serious bottlenecks will take a slightly longer gestation period. The most significant bottleneck at all levels of education is this: teacher shortage. Even in the most richly endowed private schools, the quality variance in teaching is very high because trained teachers are not that easy to find; the problem is equally severe in the public system. Our BEd programs are a complete joke, and odd exceptions apart we do not have schools of education that can bring about a pedagogic revolution. In higher education, we have a serious faculty shortage because of the near meltdown of quality PhD programmes. The structure of expansion of the university system undertaken in recent years will only deepen this crisis. Creating quality PhD programmes will not come about as a result of the UGC’s bureaucratic measures, it will require the agglomeration of talent in a few top universities. India has a huge window of opportunity the next couple of years. The US academic job market is virtually stagnant, and we now have a chance to entice back significant talent. But it will require getting the recruiting strategy right.

... contd.