Emerging Trends and Challenges of Higher Education by Dr.Jagannath.K.Dange

1. Dr. Jagannath K. Dange
Professor and chairman
Department of Education
Kuvempu University
Shankaraghatta
Dist: Shimoga,
Karnataka
jkdange@gmail.com
http://jkdange.blogspot.com

2.  Higher Education - important agenda of countries
worldwide.
 The role of higher education is not limited to fostering
the economic development of nations and providing
opportunities for individuals it extends also to
Knowledge creation and development, sensible to the
problems and issues of the world, promotion of
cultural diversity, political democracy and trade.
 Today, Higher education is again being transformed this
time to serve the needs of a global digital knowledge
economy.

3.  HEIs around the world are facing many challenges in
terms of achieving effective teaching, learning, assessment
and curriculum.
 There are many changes and developments in the
higher education:
a) learners are changing,
b) learning styles are changing as well as
c) learners’ demands are changing.
 Much more is expected of HEIs in terms of their wider
participation and engagement globally, nationally and
regionally.
 Every institution aims to attract the best faculty and
students on a global scale.
 The main role of universities and colleges nowadays is to
prepare the students or alumni for global future.
 Higher education can better serve society and promote
international cooperation.

4. Draft National Education Policy 2019
National
Education Policy
2020
Addresses challenges of Education;
1.Access
2.Equity
3.Quality
4.Affordability
5.Accountability

5. 1. Internationalisation
2. Curriculum development and alignment
3. Student Employability
4. Quality of learning and teaching
5. Quality of research
6. Political Factor
7. Moral Issues
8.Corruption
9. Privatization and Financing
10. Enrollment and Infrastructure
11. Faculty and Structure of Higher Education
12. Building Cultural Synergy
13. Knowledge Creation
14.Guidelines for professional bodies
15. Data Security.
Trends of Higher
Education
1. Learning from everywhere
2. Active learning
3. Diversity- Students and Faculty
4. Mental Health Awareness
5. Emerging Technology
6. Curriculum
7.Enrollment of International Students
8. Fundraising Campaigns
9. Technology as Industry
10. Roles of teachers
11. Cross-border delivery
12. Language
13. Tuition fees and cost of living
14. Reputation
15. Multi-disciplinary approach
16.Peace, security and democracy
17. Research Internationalized
18. Cross-Border Higher Education

6. I. Internationalisation: The higher education
institutions are focusing on internationalisation of
curriculum, delivery methods, and learning outcomes to
improve and enhance quality of education.
Noorda.S (2015) named five desirable outcomes of
internationalisation:
1. A higher education system capable of producing
global citizens and professionals.
2. Respectful and appreciative of other cultures.
3. Able to contribute to the development of
knowledge economies and socially inclusive
societies.
4. Better positioned to address global issues.
5. To compete and cooperate, with the rest of the
world, including the emerging regions.

7. II. Curriculum development and alignment
 Students’ and society needs are changing; HEIs should
consider their needs at curriculum development and
alignment.
 With the demands of the society, universities and
colleges should be more receptive and responsive in terms of
the new programmes or courses they are offering to the
students.
Lacunae:
1. Syllabus revision is done quite often without considering the
contemporary requirements of industries.
2. There is lack of diversity in the subjects one can take in colleges.
3. Flexibility to cross over streams is also lacking.
4. Not Considering the local as well global aspects.

8. Development of Outcome-Based and Flexible Curricula
4 components-
1. Output-oriented : Intended outcomes of course-units,
programmes or degrees.
2. Learning-centred :
 Descriptors of general intended outcomes.
 The objectives/goals for periods of learning
 Evidence of the qualifications acquired.
 The superior element in the ordering of the curriculum.
3. Internationally coordinated : curricula need to be developed
in alignment with the international content and issues.
4. Validated through quality assurance: The qualifications and
degrees issued should be guaranteed through the application
quality assurances at national and international levels.

9. III. Student Employability
• HEIs’ top priorities or agenda is the employability of
graduates/ alumni.
• Employability does not only refer about getting a job.
• Harvey (2003) employability is more than about
continuous enhancement and developing techniques and
attributes or experience in order to enable the students to
get jobs or to progress in their current career.
• It is about learning and the emphasis is less on
‘employ’ and more on ‘ability’.

10. Towards a “skills over degrees” model
 Moving towards more focus on acquiring skills
not degrees.
 More companies, including prominent ones
such as Google, Apple, Penguin Random House,
Ernst & Young UK and IBM, are actively shifting
focus away from degrees to new ways of
measuring employability as a consequence of the
changing nature of work.

11. Employment-centred approaches: higher education institutions
are responsible for preparing graduates for employment.
Higher education institutions are often evaluated based on
graduate employment rates.
This employment centred approach can be found in Belgium (Flemish
Community), Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain,
France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia,
Slovakia and the United Kingdom (Scotland).
Competences-centred approaches, on the other hand, refer to
the responsibility of higher education institutions to develop the
skills and competences of graduates necessary to find a job.
Employment-centred and competences-centred approaches are
not contradictory and often exist in parallel.

12. IV. Quality of learning and teaching
Mc Cornick (2009) Globally, public accountability demands on
higher education institutions, especially in relation to the quality
of teaching and learning, are increasing and higher education
institutions have to find ways of providing evidence in concrete,
observable and measurable ways of what they are doing to
improve teaching and learning.
Three factors that contribute to effective teaching and learning:
1. Inclusive learning through equality and diversity- Promoting
equality entails treating every individual with equal worth
irrespective of their gender, nationality, age and also supporting
achievement and raising aspirations.
• Diversity of students and staff can contribute towards enriched
learning environment since they bring and share different ideas.
• HEIs, staff as well as students share equal responsibility in
promoting equality.

13. 2. Learning through equality of opportunity-
It involves enabling access for individuals having
different requirements as well as reducing or
eliminating unnecessary obstacles to learning.
For instance, students with disability and the
students with no disability are offered learning
opportunities which are equally accessible to
them through reasonable individual arrangement
wherever possible.

14. 3. Facilitators of learning (administrators, staff, students and
stakeholders) working in partnership- Effective teaching and learning
follows when there is harmonious partnership among the stakeholders
that results in teaching that inspirational, enhancement of
transformational and creative learning and assessments that support
learning and academic standards.
Increasing need for life-long learning in a non-linear world
 We need to continually learn and update our skills in order to stay
relevant.
 More jobs will require substantial interaction with technology.

15. V. Quality of research
 Higher education plays a vital role in the society by transmitting and
creating new knowledge to students and fostering innovation through
research.
 Research is essential to provide a basis for educational planning and
improving quality teaching and learning.
Major issues:
 There is inadequate focus on research in higher education institutes.
 There are insufficient resources and facilities, as well as, limited
numbers of quality faculty to advice students.
 Most of the research scholars are without fellowships or not getting
their fellowships on time which directly or indirectly affects their
research.
 Moreover, Indian Higher education institutions are poorly connected
to research centers.

16.  Nominal scholars in our country whose writing is cited
by famous western authors.
 No Citation Index
 H factor, i10 factor
World Intellectual Property society: Patents-2017
 China13,81,584
 USA-606,956
 India-46,582

17. VI. Political Factor
 Governing bodies do not want any political influence or
interference in their affairs.
 The dominant political leaders, now playing key role in
governing bodies of the Universities, as they own most of the
Institutions, imparting education (Aided-non-aided).
VII. Moral Issues
 Younger generation is not interested in serving their country
and they are more interested in just taking up a job and a hefty
pay package.
 Brain drain-
 Rapid growth of science and technology and subsequent
industrialization has caused a great and danger to our moral and
values.
 Cyber crime, Bullying and data theft.

18. VIII. Corruption in Education
 Corruption in education system- eroding the quality of
education.
 One of the major contributors to domestic black money.
– converting black into white
 Payment to Management at dark rooms and seeking
admissions is increasing.
 Get full salary in the account, pay back part to
Management by blank signed cheques‘ is also a practice in
some institutions.
 Transparency International: The Global Coalition
against corruption-membership

19. IX. Privatization (Education is an Industry)
 However just privatization is not going to solve the
problem.
 Need to adopt the culture of transparency, social
responsibility.
 Create Inclusive set up Irrespective of class, creed,
caste and gender, locality, region and religion.
X. Financing
 Financing is also an issue with higher education in
India and across the globe.
There is a Shrink in the % of Budget of Higher
Education every year in all countries.
6% of GDP. Hr Edn Budget-53000 Cr - 120000 Cr
spent on Tuition fee in other countries.

20.  XI. Expansion: The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of India in
higher education is only 30% which is quite low as compared to
the developed as well as, other developing countries.

21. ACCESS AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION
 The concept of access: concerned with the social composition of the
higher education population.
 Right to admission: This is an area where national cultures and
practices may differ significantly from each other.
 Bridging programmes and recognition of prior learning:
 Guidance to prospective students:
 Measures to encourage or discourage entry to higher education:
Cultural differences with regard to the age of entering higher
education are a well-known phenomenon.
 A glance at the median age of higher education students shows that it
varies from 20 years in Belgium, France and Ireland to 26 years in
Iceland (Eurostat 2012). India-18yrs

22.  Incentives to higher education Institutions: However, only two
countries, Ireland and the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern
Ireland and Scotland), a system where funding is deliberately used as an
incentive to higher education institutions to widen participation.
Aided Institutions in India
 Incentives to students and higher education institutions
Incentives to students: education systems state that there are financial
incentives encouraging students to complete their studies within a
limited period of time. Scholarships in India
XII. Flexibility: Flexibility may relate to time (full-time or part time),
modes of learning, (open and distance learning).
In almost all countries, higher education institutions are able to decide
the amount of part-time provision offered.
Focus on higher education institutions specialising in distance
learning: Distance learning, e-learning and blended learning.

23. XIII. Infrastructure:
 Many institutions have no basic Amenities to
run a course.
 Same infrastructure for more than one courses.
 Poor infrastructure is major issue in public
sector institutes.
 There are large number of colleges which are
functioning on second or third floor of the
building on ground or first floor there exists
readymade hosieries or photocopy shops.

25. XIV. Faculty: Faculty shortages and the inability of the state
educational system to attract and retain well qualified teachers.
 Fail to absorb the young talent.
 Large numbers of NET / PhD candidates are unemployed even
there are lot of vacancies in higher education.
 Guest teachers are working on a very low salary.
 No Perks and life security policies.(NPS)
XV. Structure of higher education: Management of the Indian
education faces challenges of overcentralisation, bureaucratic
structures and lack of accountability, transparency, and
professionalism.
 Number of affiliated colleges and students, the burden of
administrative functions of universities has significantly increased
and the core focus on academics and research is diluted (Kumar,
2015).

26. XVI. Accreditation: As per the data provided by the NAAC, as on mere
40% of the total higher education institutions in the country were
accredited.
International:
1. International Accreditation
Organization – IAO
2. International Council for Higher
Education Accreditation -ICHEA
3. International University
Accreditation-IUA

27. XVII. Building Cultural Synergy
 The twenty-first century interconnected global society poses a need for
its citizens to be culturally sensitive and gain cultural intelligence
(commonly referred to as CQ).
 The world faces civil wars and terrorism, environmental challenges,
economic ripple, materialism, and a worldwide epidemic of depression
(World Health Organization 2012).
 Collaborating for meaningful coexistence with those of differing or
opposing values and lifestyles is paramount to overcoming these
challenges.
 A sustainable future depends upon citizens educated in international
understanding and cooperation.
XVIII. Knowledge Creation through properly designed and led
classroom discussions and activities so as to foster social
collaborative knowledge construction.

28. XIX. Guidelines for professional bodies
Systems of professional recognition differ from country to
country and from profession to profession.
For example, in some cases, a recognized academic
qualification could be sufficient for entry into professional
practice, whereas in other cases, additional requirements
are imposed on holders of academic qualifications in order
to enter the profession.
XX. Some of the key aspects: Data Security, Data Privacy,
Social and Ethical challenges are to be addressed swiftly in
this online education system.

29. Trends of Higher Education
1. Learning from everywhere
 shifting to a “learn from anywhere” approach, to a
“learn from everywhere” approach.
 The European business school, Esade, launched a
new bachelor’s degree in 2021, which combines
classes conducted on campus in Barcelona, and
remotely over a purpose- designed learning platform,
with immersive practical experiences working in
Berlin and Shanghai, while students create their own
social enterprise.
 This kind of course is a truly hybrid learning
experience.

30. 2. Replacing lectures with active learning
 However, with digital information being ubiquitous and free.
 Our brains do not learn by listening, and the little information
we learn that way is easily forgotten (as shown by the
Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, below).
 Real learning relies on principles such as spaced learning,
emotional learning, and the application of knowledge.

31. 3. Diversity in Higher Education Students and
Faculty.
 Institutions should strive to foster educational
excellence and shrink opportunity gaps by creating
welcoming and diverse campuses (U.S. Department
of Education, 2016).
 Educators ought to recognize the educational
value of ethnic, Religious, Gender, Locality,
language and racial diversity and work towards
breaking the barriers that inhibit proper
diversification.

32. 4. Mental Health Awareness
Screen Time-
 The American Psychological Association (APA. 2018) claimed
in a study on the prevalence of mental disorders amongst first-
year students in eight countries, which revealed that 35%
struggle with mental illness.
 Depression, eating disorders, anxiety, addiction, and
suicide are some of the mental health issues today’s college
students cannot shove aside.
 According to the American College Health Association
(ACHA,2019), 60% and 40% of students also suffered anxiety
and depression, respectively .
 Institutions are dealing with the issues early on by proactively
sharing mental health information with students during
orientation sessions

33. 5. Emerging technology
 The role of technology in higher learning is not only in
equipping students with information but also in bridging
access to quality education.
 It should help sidestep the constraints of time and
location to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
while encouraging creativity, curiosity, and collaboration.
1. Artificial Intelligence : making learning fun, adaptive,
detailed, customized and better inclusive.
2. Online Assessments :
3. Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) Labs
4. Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs):

34. Curriculum Trends
6. More Focus on Closing the Skills Gap
 Mauricio Macri (former president of Argentina), while
addressing the G20 summit in 2018 said “the future of
work is a race between technology and education”
(Accenture, 2020).
 Institutions of higher learning ought to focus on molding
future employees by imparting knowledge, skills, and
competencies that are demanded in the labor markets.
 For this reason, there is an urgent need to reimagine
degree programs, courses, and curricula in general, to
meet the needs of modern learners, while keeping pace
with the evolving workforce (Educause Horizon Report,
2020).

35. 7. Enrollment of International Students
 The decrease in the number of new students enrolling at U.S.
universities is a trend that is gathering pace. In 2019 alone, 51% of
institutions of higher learning in the U.S. recorded a decrease in the
new enrollment of international students(IIE, 2020).

36. Financial Trends
8. Fundraising Campaigns
 Institutions of higher learning in the U.S. have
been heavily reliant on federal funding. The exact
amount contributed by each state towards this
course can vary widely.
 Research and development funds.
 Online and Distance courses.
 MOOC programs.
 International Collaborations, Etc

37. 9. Technology as Industry:
The conventional classroom
learning and teaching
methods are augmented
and replaced by technology
powered online education,
which has made the various
EdTech apps very popular.
 India's EdTech industry is growing at an exponential
pace, and has become the second biggest in the world.
 EdTech business in India is expected to touch $3.2
billion by 2022, the least affected due to the Pandemic.

38. 10. Roles of teachers have changed significantly:
Teachers have to transform themselves to be facilitators and
curators, where the teachers were not trained and skilled
on the new ways of technology powered learning and
teaching.(MOOC, Web based and Mobile Apps for courses)
11. The cross-border delivery of higher education with
programmes, projects and providers moving across
borders.
12. Language is an important factor. OECD observes, “
countries whose language is widely spoken and read, such as
English, French, German, Russian and Spanish, are therefore
leading destinations of foreign students, both in absolute and
relative terms .”

39. 13. Tuition fees and cost of living play an important role
in student decisions on where to study abroad.
 Several countries – Ireland, Slovakia, Denmark, the
Netherlands and Sweden – have introduced full-cost fees
for non-EU international students in recent years.
 Most countries of Europe, in particular the larger
economies of Germany, France, Italy and Spain as well as
Scandinavia, have zero or low tuition fees for domestic
students and, with the exception of the countries
mentioned above, they do not differentiate between EU-
students and other international students.

40. QS World University Rankings
• The university's Reputation
among other universities (40
%),
• Employers (10 %),
• Student-teacher ratio (20%),
• Citations-academic staff ratio
(20 %), and
• International outlook including
students and staff (10 %).
14. Reputation is an important factor. The emergence of
international rankings of universities

41. Times Higher Education
• Teaching (30%),
• Research (30%),
• Citation (30%),
• Industry income (2.5%),
International view(7.5
percent )
THE World University
Rankings-2022

45. 15. Multi-disciplinary course and Institutions
16. Peace, security and democracy
 One in four people on the planet, more than 1.5 billion, live in
fragile and conflict-affected states or in countries with very high
levels of criminal violence (World Bank, 2011c).
 Conflicts may have their roots in a variety of political, economic,
religious or ethnic factors, and though many are long-standing, some
may be relatively new in character or manifestation.
 For example, environmental or natural resource issues, such as
access to clean water or the effects of desertification, flooding or
pollution, may be of heightened importance in coming years, as may
changing patterns of internal and external migration, terrorism,
organized crime and epidemics.

46. 18. Research- Internationalize and become more
collaborative:
 At least two major shifts promise to rebalance basic versus
applied research, as well collaboration not only between
universities but entire nations.
 Firstly, governments are increasingly insistent on more
immediately applicable research, citing the impact of
independent research institutes funded by government and
industry. Fundamentally, universities have their own interests,
and industry pursues profits.
 Secondly, universities, research institutes, or even entire
nations tackle to address global challenges.
For example, the UN’s sustainability goals including public
health, climate change, security, and sustainability will require
coordinated collaboration, reduced duplication, partnership,
and inter-disciplinarity across what are currently dispersed
specialties and strengths.

47. 19. Ensuring Quality in Cross-Border Higher Education
Implementing the UNESCO/OECD Guidelines
The Recommendation of the Council of the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) Secretariat concerning the Guidelines for Quality
Provision in Cross-Border Higher Education.
In this context, it is recommended that academic recognition
bodies:
a) Establish and maintain regional and international
networks that can serve as platforms to exchange information
and good practice, disseminate knowledge, increase the
understanding of international developments and challenges
and improve the professional expertise of their staff.

48. Dr. Jagannath K. Dange
Department of Education
Kuvempu University
Shankaraghatta
Dist: Shimoga,
Karnataka
jkdange@gmail.com
http://jkdange.blogspot.com