14 States yet to join Centre’s flagship education scheme

Context

At present, 14 States and Union Territories are yet to sign a crucial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Education Ministry, which mandates the under the Centre’s flagship scheme for State-run higher education.

What is the new Scheme?

Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) is the new name for the Ministry’s scheme to improve the quality of higher education in State Universities — through curricular and programme changes, teacher training, physical and digital infrastructure, accreditation, and enhancing employability — while ensuring equity, access, and inclusion.
Funding: PM-USHA scheme has 60:40 funding split between Centre and States, with no extra money for NEP reforms.
It provides an outlay of ?12,926.10 crore between 2023-24 and 2025-26.

What are State’s Concerns?

States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal are among the 14 States and Union Territories that have not yet signed the crucial MoU with the Union Education Ministry.
This MoU is necessary to receive funds of nearly ?13,000 crore over the next three years for state-run higher education under the Centre's Flagship Scheme.
The states who have not signed yet are concerned as 40% of the PM-USHA budget must be borne by the States themselves, and no extra funds have been earmarked for NEP reforms.

What are the issues in the higher education system?

National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) is a guiding force in preparing the base for PM-USHA.
NEP has identified some of the major problems currently faced by the higher education system in India, which are:
- A severely fragmented higher educational ecosystem; less emphasis on the development of cognitive skills and learning outcomes
- A rigid separation of disciplines, early specialization, and streaming of students into narrow areas of study
- Limited access particularly in socio-economically disadvantaged areas, with few HEIs that teach in local languages
- Limited teacher and institutional autonomy
- Inadequate mechanisms for merit-based career management and progression of faculty and institutional leaders
- Lesser emphasis on research at most universities and colleges, and lack of competitive peer-reviewed research funding across disciplines; g. Suboptimal governance and leadership of HEIs
- An ineffective regulatory system; and large affiliating universities result in low standards of undergraduate education.