There are legitimate expectations that the human resource development ministry will now deliver, though large chunks of education being on the Concurrent List causes problems. Entry 25 on the concurrent list reads, “Education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I; vocational and technical training of labour.” Entry 63 on the Union List has BHU, AMU and Delhi University, Entry 64 has institutions of national importance, Entry 65 mentions professional, vocational or technical training and Entry 66 mentions coordination and determination of standards. This is bound to lead to conflicts and inconsistencies. For instance, there were historical reasons why BHU, AMU and Delhi University were treated differently. Why should they be treated differently now? Six decades later, in retrospect, the Concurrent List was a mistake (not just for education) and we should not continue with it. The Seventh Schedule needs revamping with three separate lists — Union, State and Local Body. There should be concurrence on this, but we won’t get that amendment in a hurry. So any educational reforms will have to factor in the constitutional status quo.

Reform principles have been clear since 1991 and are no different for education. Efficiency is best ensured through competition and choice. Remove supply-side constraints and free up entry, including from private (and foreign) players. What is so sacred about education that it cannot be profit-making? If there are market failures, state provisioning may be necessary. But if there aren’t market failures, state institutions should compete on level-playing-field terms with private enterprises. Replace licensing and controls with regulation. Since there can be asymmetry in information access, regulation should focus on disclosure and independent ratings of educational institutions are conditional on this information being available. Regulation needs to move away from controlling input costs (salaries, fees) and even physical infrastructure. Decentralise and grant decision-making autonomy to enterprises. There may be inability to pay by poor students, though even private enterprises have cross-subsidisation inadequately appreciated. To that extent, public subsidisation of poor students is required. However, let us identify the poor and let subsidies go directly to poor students, instead of subsidising inefficient public educational institutes. Subsidies can be spliced with competition and choice.

... contd.