December 12, 2019
Md Nadimul Haque makes a Special Mention about public expenditure in education
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, higher education plays a key role in economic growth and development of a country. The private as well as social return from investment in higher education are generally significant for countries with low per capita income.
The latest All-India Survey of Higher Education found at less than 0.5 % students are enrolled in PhD programs in the country. PhD enrollment in central universities is less than 5 per cent of total PhD enrollment. Indian students are increasingly choosing to pursue postgraduate studies abroad. However, the share of foreign students pursuing PhD programs in India is less than 3 per cent of the total foreign enrollment.
The public expenditure on education and research and development has to increase in India. Although, India’s investment in R&D has increased over the years, public expenditure as a fraction of GDP has been constant at 0.6 per cent to 0.7 per cent for the last two decades. This is in contrast to countries like China and US to spend more than 2 per cent as a fraction of the GDP on the same.
Similarly, providing access to higher education is necessary to break the systemic social baggage, whose importance today cannot be stretched further for the most marginalised sections of Indian society.
I urge the government to take steps in order to make post-graduate studies and research more attractive for domestic and foreign students.
