Murthy on why India has few world-class colleges

India had failed to build world-class educational institutions due to government regulation in the higher education system giving limited opportunities to colleges and universities to adapt and change, Infosys chief mentor and chairman N R Narayana Murthy has said.

Addressing students and faculty of the Cochin University of Science and Technology after being conferred with the honorary degree of science (honoris causa), Murthy, who is also the chairman of the governing body of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, said on Sunday: "Our institutes of higher education must stay relevant in a changing world."

He said: "They must be at the centre of the nation's efforts in managing change and sustaining growth and must play an effective growth role in knowledge creation and innovation."

The educational institutions should also help Indian industries face the challenges of a competitive globalised economy. However, government regulation in our higher education system had limited the ability of our colleges and universities to adapt and change. "As a result, we have failed to build truly world class institutions in the country."

Many institutions were unable to attract and retain high quality faculty. Lack of market orientation had also resulted in colleges focussing on outdated curriculum and rote learning. Consequently, a large proportion of educational institutions produce graduates who were ill equipped to relate their learning with the outside world. India today had over 5.3 million unemployed university graduates even as Indian industries face shortages of skilled labour, he said.

Soon after the Union government denied permission to IIM-Bangalore to start an overseas campus in Singapore, Murthy in his hard hitting speech said: "We must realise that world class educational institutions are created not through government mandate and control, but through academic freedom, innovation and the pursuit of excellence."

The educational institutions should be allowed the freedom to take risks and foster bold new initiatives for growth, he said.

Higher education in India must be allowed to function as an industry in a 'free market' environment, he said. The government must encourage competition through autonomy and independence from state funding. Institutes must place a stronger emphasis on innovation, R&D and the creation of new knowledge. Universities should be allowed to form alliances with firms for research and funding. Businesses must be consulted in curriculum design and conducting of courses, he said.

Today, the dictates of globalisation and an emerging knowlege economy have propelled intellectual capital to the frontline of a nation's competitive advantage. Consequently, education today had moved from its previously marginal role to playing a pivotal role in the new economy.

Quoting writer Robin Conwan, he said: "The ivory tower of education cannot be a windowless edifices."