Journal of Indian School of Political Economy

Jandhyala B. G. Tilak ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Educational Finance, National University of Educational Planning and Administration 17-B Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016, IN

Abstract

Internationalisation of higher education has been an issue of high priority for as many as 73 per cent of the higher education institutions around the world, according to a survey conducted by the International Association of Universities in 2005. Internationalisation of higher education has taken different forms and it is nowadays broadly equated to trade in education. Many countries are getting involved in it, either out of conviction, or more out of compulsion. Bringing of higher education under the purview of the General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS) has profound implications for the development of higher education. The traditional and neo-liberal schools of thought have advanced powerful arguments against and in favour of GATS in higher education. The paper is an attempt to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism of the GATS and to offer a critical assessment of these arguments. It also analyses its implications from the point of view of developing countries like India, and concludes that while there are some advantages in trade in education, the potential dangers are more serious.

Keywords

World Trade Organisation (WTO), General Agreement of Trade in Services (GATS), International Trade, Higher Education, India.

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Jandhyala B. G. Tilak ¹

Affiliations
1 Educational Finance Unit, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, 17 B Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016, IN

Abstract

Faced with a continuing financial crisis of a long time, on the one hand, and a global wave of change in favour of market philosophy, on the other, a series of waves of change are taking place in the field of financing education in the developing countries during the last couple of decades.

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Jandhyala B. G. Tilak ¹

Affiliations
1 Educational Finance Unit, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, 17 B Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi-110016, IN

Abstract

In this paper the effects of adjustment policies on higher education in India are briefly analysed, and with the help of limited data available for a short period, it has been shown that the adjustment policies tend to result in severe budget cuts or significant reduction in rates of growth in budget expenditure on higher education and, more importantly, in major shifts in policies relating to state financing of higher education (e.g., student fees, student loan programmes and privatisation in general) in undesirable directions, which have serious long term implications, as they tend to be irreversible. It is argued here that since the success in adjustment policies requires highly skilled manpower, it b necessary to safeguard the whole education system, including higher education, from the adverse effects of adjustment policies.

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