Changing dimensions of public higher education systems: A comparative analysis of Brazil and India

• In Event: Quality and Equity in reforming higher education programmes

Proposal

The Context

India and Brazil are both major emerging economies from the Global South, part of the BRICS and of continental proportions. Both these countries have relatively large higher education sectors in the region. They have experienced a recent expansion with a mix of public and private higher education institutions. In both these countries, higher education systems were initially characterized as ‘public’ but now they are undergoing major changes. However, comparative studies on both countries are still scarce, especially in the area of higher education research and policy analysis. Keeping the commonalities and contextual differences in mind, this paper presents a comparative analysis of the recent policy-changes and their implications on access, equity and quality in Brazil and India. It also examines how these changes affect the nature of higher education institutions and their relationship with the State, market and society.

Brazil
In Brazil, while public universities are considered as the hubs of excellence, the majority of undergraduate students are enrolled in private institutions. The private sector is responsible for around 70% of enrolment, however inclusion policies, scholarships and financing programs are widely spread, which increases the private sector’s role in democratizing access. Since 2015, the adoption of austerity measures (Oliveira 2019; Rossi and Mello 2017) has affected the financing of higher education (especially in the public sector), with impacts on inclusion in higher education: in the beginning of the 21st century, the profile of students accessing higher education became more democratic, as the percentage of black, lower income and North-Northeast students – all underprivileged social categories - increased. This inclusion was a result of public policies adopted in order to expand and democratize access to higher education and of improvements in the labor market, which enabled families to access higher education. Since 2015 the trend in racial inclusion has continued, regional inclusion has stagnated and the trend in income inclusion has been reversed. Oliveira (2019) argues that the two main reasons for this reversion are the economic crisis which affects families’ capacity to finance the costs of studying and the cuts suffered by social policy. Also noticeable is the restriction on public higher education institutions' autonomy in recent years.
India
On the other hand, India is struggling with the challenges regarding equity, access and quality with limited availability of financial resources. At the same time, it aspires to be among the global leaders in the higher education market. The National Education Policy (NEP 2020) calls for a major reform in Indian higher education through a regulatory overhaul to transform the national system. It fosters competition among public and private institutions to compete for autonomy and funds by suggesting a performative policy for resource allocation. In addition, two recent policy documents, Institutes of Eminence (IOE) and Graded Autonomy (GA) Bill also have far-reaching implications on the Indian higher education system (Chattopadhyay and Nandi 2021). Under the IOE scheme, the select public and private institutions would receive additional resources and autonomy from the State to design and implement strategies for featuring in the list of the popular global university rankings. The GA bill suggests to grant various degree of autonomy to the public universities depending on their performance in the national accreditation and rankings. These policies reshape the vision and mission of the public universities with which they have been established. It also disincentivizes the private universities to cater to the under-privileged group due to the selective nature of competition in the higher education market. Apart from these, internationalization is another area of recent thrust in Indian higher education sector. The allocations for World Class University and Study in India program have increased in the recent Union Budget (Chattopadhyay 2022). The University Grants Commission has recently published the guidelines for internationalization hoping to be a major study attraction and a world leader in the global higher education market (NEP 2020). However, there are no clear discussion on tackling the internal challenges related to equity and quality along with the aspirations for internationalization. Another priority is to develop a virtual teaching-learning system through a digital university and online courses. Given the digital divide in India, these policies can make the system more exclusive and change the relationship between teachers and students in higher education institutions.
Comparative Analysis
In this backdrop, this paper presents a comparative analysis of the recent policy-changes and their implications on higher education systems in Brazil and India based on the ‘Glonacal Agency Heuristics (Marginson and Rhoades 2002). Although these countries have their unique history, culture and a different trajectory of economic development, it’s pertinent to look into the current challenges, suggested reforms and their implications on equity and quality in these two emerging economies from Global South. The comparative analysis helps in breaking the ‘single country myopia’ and analyzes the policy-trends in the context of globalization, colonialism and neoliberalism (Va¨limaa and Nokkala 2013). This paper also examines the changing degree of ‘publicness’ of the higher education systems in both these countries.

References
Oliveira, A. L. M. (2019) Educação Superior brasileira no início do século XXI: inclusão interrompida? Tese de Doutorado, IE/Unicamp. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/2LWGoOn
Rossi, P.; Mello, G. (2017) Choque recessivo e a maior crise da história: A economia brasileira em marcha ré. Nota de Conjuntura 1 - CECON IE Unicamp Access in: 08/07/2017 Available at: https://goo.gl/mQHuWd
Chattopadhyay, S. and Nandi, E. (2021). Changing Contours of Regulations in Indian Higher Education in Chattopadhyay S., Marginson S., and Varghese N.V. edited Changing Higher Education in India. Bloomsbury. London.
Chattopadhyay, S. (2022). Union Budget 2022-23: Re-envisioning the Purpose and Delivery of Higher Education. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol 57 (15).
Marginson, S., & Rhoades, G. (2002). Beyond national states, markets, and systems of higher education: A glonacal agency heuristic. Higher education, 43(3), 281-309.

Välimaa, J., & Nokkala, T. (2014). The dimensions of social dynamics in comparative studies on higher education. Higher Education, 67(4), 423-437.

Author

• Emon Nandi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences