In 2060, India will be the most populous country, and likely have the largest economy, in the world. Roughly 20 million young people turn 18 every year, and according to some estimates, India’s middle class now numbers 300 million.
In many foreign countries, primary and secondary education is free and it is made compulsory in law, unlike in India, Education is becoming a business. Taking from privatization of education to tuition and coaching institute; education is generating good money. So business minds are now moving towards education.
University system in India
India contains a complex higher education landscape, with 760 universities and around 38,000 colleges.
Central government universities absorb just 3% of students and are relatively good quality. A wide range of state universities affiliate private and state colleges, which also award degrees. There is also a class of “deemed university” which was introduced fairly recently to cover private institutions established usually by business entrepreneurs.
University system in Australia
The Education system is built around the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). It was established back in 1995 and covers higher education and vocational training along with school leaving certificate and secondary certificate of education. It brings together all levels of the education system viz. school and university as well as vocational. This education system brings about transparency and an easy pathway from one level of education to the next with a great guidance for career prospects and opportunities. If the qualification that you are obtaining is AQF certified then it is listed in the Government directory and is nationally accredited and you receive a genuine certificate of completion.
The Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) and a National Training Quality Council are two recent Australian Government initiatives to further strengthen Australia's existing accreditation and quality assurance processes throughout Australia.
Education in Australia has different set of rules and regulations. You will find a lot of differences in Education abroad and that in India. In foreign countries; they focus more on practical based learning. And they allow creativity in education. There, education is taken as a learning process
The Major Differences that Lie within the Two Systems
Talking at the Indian Education Congress 2017, Mr Pradeep Khanna, Founder & CEO, Global Mindset, Australia, expressed his views on the difference that lies within the Education space of both the countries.
He said, “We have to look at the differences between the two countries. So, Australia is a country with 23 million people. The land mass is bigger than India. India has 1.2 billion people. When you look at the per capita income, Australia’s per capita income is 55000 whereas the per capita income of India is in low thousands. So, both the countries are different in terms of pedagogy and in terms of their need of the two countries.
According to me, not all people in India have access to Internet. India is more like Europe, where you have different cultures, languages, so automatically there is a regional demand which is still kind of boosting up and in an environment where you don’t have an access of Internet to everybody. Let us bring this example back to Education. In Australia, it is not the issue in terms of whether the opportunity is there for people to either take Vocational Education or Higher Education. People have the opportunity but whether they do it or nor is a different question.
In India, we have to create the environment where there are opportunities for people to have education of their choice. Secondly, Vocational Education is very big in Australia. So if I want to become a plumber or a driver, and if I earn good, nobody really bothers about it. On the other hand, the needs of India are heavily into skills. But there is some kind of social issue in terms of people who want to work in an office or as a plumber. So those are some of the differences we get to see between the two countries, said the Founder, Global Mindset, Australia.
In the context of globalization that we are living in at the moment, we are not only looking at a global world but also at a global mobility. In any country, if the credentials are not recognized then there are certain issues because the person has to rescale themselves. We have to come down to competency based Education where the certifications are recognized all over the world. That will help in terms of global integration, said Mr. Khanna.
