Higher Education Reforms: Unfulfilled Promise of Decentralization in India

Higher education strengthens democratization by allowing members to make decisions collectively within a framework of organizational rules. However, structures and organizational cultures of centralized higher education systems conflict with the democratization function of the institutions. Recent governance and academic reforms in India have attempted to decentralize more decision-making powers to institutions, faculty, and students. This study focuses on implementing such reforms under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan. Using interviews and document analysis in four Indian states, the study documents, and analyses a range of individual and institutional reactions to the reforms. Evidence suggests that universities and colleges have denied the need for some reforms, implemented some reforms on paper, and translated some reforms into versions that are convenient to implement. Reform implementation is affected by a paucity of financial and human resources and technical capacity constraints. Underlying these barriers is a far tougher challenge of institutionalized attitudes and beliefs fundamentally misaligned with the concept of decentralizing governance and academic decision-making in university systems. The findings of this study suggest that future policies need to devise new strategies and incentives to counter barriers to implementing higher education reforms.