With education sector requiring an investment of over $150 billion in the next 10 years, the government has proposed new private partnership models for expansion of higher education sector in the country.
The government has proposed setting up of large education hubs in different parts of the country anchored by large public/private sector enterprises funded through their allocations for corporate social responsibility.
According to documents accessed by this newspaper, four new models have been proposed in an effort to facilitate the entry of private players in the higher education set-up.
The four proposed models are: basic infrastructure model in which the private sector invests in infrastructure and the government runs the operations and management of the institutions, in turn, making payments to the private investor.
The second proposed model is outsourcing model in which private sector invests in infrastructure and runs operations and management and the responsibility of the government is to pay the private investor for the specified services.
Equity or hybrid model is the third model in which investment in infrastructure is shared between the two sectors while operation and management is vested with the private sector.
The final proposal is reverse outsourcing model in which the government invests in infrastructure and the private sector takes the responsibility of operation and management. The proposals are part of University Grants Commission’s submission before the Planning Commission for the forthcoming 12th Plan period.
Sources stated that four models of public-private partnership have been proposed so as to maintain flexibility in the investment pattern.
According to government estimates, the country needs over $150 billion worth of investment in the education sector in the next 10 years. The government has proposed to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio from its current 12.4 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020. For enhancing the GER to this level, about 1,000 more universities and 45,000 more colleges are needed.