RURAL STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES OF PUNJAB A Research Project Sponsored by Punjabi University, Patiala RANJIT SINGH GHUMAN SUKHWINDER SINGH JASWINDER SINGH BRAR Department of Economics And Centre for Research in Economic Change Punjabi University, Patiala September, 2006 CONTENTS Preface iii-x Chapter Scheme Chapter I Introduction 1-13 1.1 Education and Development 1 1.2 Financing of Education 4 1.3 Equity, Access and Affordability 7 1.4 Research Design and Methodology 10 1.4.1 Coverage and Scope of Study 10 1.4.2 Objectives of Study 11 1.4.3 Rural Students: Definition 12 1.4.4 Data Sources and Time Period 13 1.5 Chapter Scheme 13 Chapter II Higher Education Sector in Punjab: 14-37 Growth, Structure and Private Initiative 2.1 Development of Higher Education in Punjab 15 2.1.1 Growing Number of Universities, 15 2.1.2 Growing Number of College/Institutes 17 a. Dominance of General Education Colleges 17 b. Growing of Professional Education 18 Colleges/Institutions 2.1.3 Prominence of Private Initiative 21 2.1.4 Growing Enrolment of Students 23 2.2 Higher Education and Weaker Sections 28 2.2.1 Accessibility Question: Macro Perspective 29 2.2.2 Accessibility Question: Micro Perspective 31 Chapter III Rural Students: Their Number and 38-65 Proportion 3.1 Overall: Universities and Regional Centres 38 3.1.1 Overall: Faculty-wise 41 3.1.2 Overall: Department-wise 43 3.2 University-cum-Faculty-wise 46 3.3 University-cum-Department-wise 49 3.3.1 Punjabi University 49 ii 3.3.2 Guru Nanak Dev University 53 3.3.3 Panjab University 56 3.3.4 Punjab Agricultural University 59 Chapter IV Rural Students: Some Socio-Economic 66-98 Characteristics 4.1 Social Features 66 4.2 Location of Villages 68 4.3 Hostel/Daily Commuting 69 4.4 Admission Status and Education Level 71 4.5 Examination Score 74 4.6 Schools: Types, Affiliation and Location 76 4.7 Study Stream: +2 and Graduation 79 4.8 Education Level of Family 81 4.9 Occupation of Family 84 4.10 Medium of Examination/Instruction 87 4.11 Fee Concession and Scholarship 89 4.12 Land Holdings and Income 90 4.13 Earnings and Expenditure 94 4.14 Study Loss and Additional Degree 96 Chapter V Summing Up 99-113 Questionnaire 114-116 Bibliography 117-119 iii PREFACE Punjab is one of the most prosperous and developed states, with the lowest poverty ratio, among the major states of India. The state has been ranked 2nd in terms of human development index (HDI) among these states. Its literacy rate was about 70 per cent in 2001 (65 per cent in rural areas and 79 per cent in urban areas). As per Census 2001, 66 per cent of state’s total population and 70 per cent of its workforce live in rural areas. Clearly, Punjab predominantly continues to be a rural economy. Though rural education and rural health, along with modernization of agriculture and related activities, continue to be the pillars of rural development strategy, yet a big gap exists between the rural and urban Punjab. The rural-urban economic divide has, in fact, widened over the period of time. It has been amply demonstrated by the ever declining share of primary sector in the NSDP and very high proportion of rural workers in total workers of Punjab. Consequently, rural people, particularly the marginal and small farmers and landless agricultural workers have lagged behind. They are disillusioned with the educational and development imbalances created over the period of time. The political leadership and civil bureaucracy, and even the academia, have been becoming increasingly insensitive and insincere to the rural people. Even the judiciary is promoting the hollow slogan of meritocracy. The rural people are deprived of opportunities in every walk of life. The rural education and health have been heading towards a total collapse during the last about three decades. As such, the proportion of rural students in higher education has been on the decline over the period of time. Punjab, at present, demonstrates a classic case of societal transformation. Across the spectrum, there have been many significant changes in the production and distribution. Market forces have emerged as the principal iv instrument not only in the commodity producing sectors but also in the services sector, particularly in education and health. These two sectors are basically responsible for the development of human resources. Mainstream development economists are of the opinion that the skill, education, and knowledge are the prime movers of growth in any country/region. The empirical evidences reveal that the benefits of various development and welfare schemes in Punjab or elsewhere are cornered by the selected few groups among the rich and higher castes in rural areas. Similarly, the benefits of reservation of seats in educational institutions/services have been monopolized by creamy layers. This process has deprived an overwhelming majority of vulnerable sections of rural society from getting the benefits of these programmes/schemes and put restrictions on improving their quality of life. Consequently, a well organized section of the society consisting of rich-cum- higher castes households and a creamy layer among reserve categories have emerged as the moving force in sharing the development gains in Punjab. In nutshell, there exists a big gap in terms of the facilities, services and opportunities available to the rural and urban people. People living in cities/towns have better schools and colleges, better teachers, better income earning opportunities, better transportation & communication means, etc. On the other hand, the villagers are deprived of such facilities and consequently lagged behind than their urban counterparts. As such they are unable to compete with the urban people on the basis of merit. The fact of the matter is that there is no level playing field in the determination of merit. How can the rural students compete with the urban students in the entrance tests and the qualifying examinations when their foundation (schooling) and counselling are much weaker than their urban counterparts? There is an organic link among various levels of education (elementary, secondary and tertiary). The elementary and secondary levels are the v foundations of tertiary education and tertiary education provides teachers to the first two levels and generates knowledge. Tertiary education, in fact, is sine quo non for generation, absorption, transmission, preservation, application and dissemination of knowledge. Knowledge, in turn, is imperative for social, cultural, economic and political development of a state/country. It is the educated people of the country, even of a poor country, who would be able to promote, assert and protect their state’s/nation's interest in the fast emerging knowledge society at the national/global level. "The real wealth of a nation is its people. And, the purpose of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. This simple but powerful truth is too often forgotten in the purist of material and financial wealth." These are the opening lines of the first Human Development Report brought out by UNDP in 1990. The Human Development Report 2000 marks further advance in this direction through the inclusion of political and civil rights as another indicator of human development since "only with political freedom – the right for all men and women to participate equally in society – can people genuinely take advantage of economic freedoms". In view of the above scenario, Punjabi University, decided to undertake a study regarding rural students in the universities of Punjab. In fact, the very idea of such a study was conceived by the Vice Chancellor, S. Swarn Singh Boparai. For any meaningful intervention and policy recommendations, a comprehensive study and database pertaining to the phenomenon is of paramount importance. Thus, the rationale and significance of the proposed project is self evident. The basic determinants of human development are longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. It is measured by life expectancy, level of educational attainment and real GDP per capita. Clearly, the more important components of HDI, inter-alia, are health and education. Technical progress vi emanates from the investment in human capital. "The main engine of growth is the accumulation of human capital – or knowledge – and the main source of differences in living standards among nations is a difference in human capital. Physical capital plays an essential but decidedly subsidiary role in development. Human capital takes place in schools, in research organizations, and in the course of producing goods and engaging in trade." (Lucas, R.E. Jr.: "Making a Miracle", Econometrica , 1993). There has been a wide spread exclusion of rural students in Punjab from higher education particularly from professional and engineering education, over the last two decades or so, whatever may be the reason. Collapse of school education in rural Punjab, admission through entrance tests, costly education in private schools (beyond the reach of majority of ruralites), gap in rural-urban amenities and awareness, information gap, lack of guidance and coaching may be some of the reasons. One of the serious implications of all this is that rural students are unable to enter the higher education system through the present mode of entrance examination. In Punjab, higher education sector, consisting of universities and colleges, has grown with the liberal state funding during the 1970s and 1980s. All universities and a large majority of colleges were either government owned or private owned aided colleges. The private aided colleges were largely financed through the statutory provisions of grants-in-aid policy (up to 95 per cent of recurring cost). During the recent years, particularly since the 1990s, the higher education delivery system in the state has changed substantially with the entry of the private for-profit entrepreneurs, especially in the fields of professional and technical education.