Author(s)

Que Ling ¹, Yong Xiong ², Long Bai ^1,3, Runzi Zhou ⁴

Affiliation(s)

¹ Institute of Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China
² College of International Education, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
³ Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
⁴ Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Hunan, China

Corresponding Author

Yong Xiong

ABSTRACT

Since its independence, India's higher education policy has undergone over seven decades of development and evolution, continuous adjustment and improvement. Today the country has a relatively complete policy system. Based on the framework of historical institutionalism and Indian higher education policy reforms from 1947 to 2021, this article divides its policy evolution into three stages: the beginning, reform and development, and reform integration. The policy changes were examined by analyzing influential government documents and associated measures taken in higher education. From a structural perspective, it is concludable that the reform of the political system provided a backdrop for its evolution, and gradual transformation of the economic system laid the market foundation for it to take its current form. Additionally, changes in social and cultural concepts provided ideological roots. From a historical perspective, it is evident that its evolution was deeply influenced by the central government, higher education institutions, and individual students. In fact, a significant path dependence was developed, and key nodes in the educational network provided opportunities for reform of the Indian higher education system. Therefore, this study recommends that the reform of Indian higher education policy should continue to expand unswervingly in order to improve the quality of education in India, give full role to the demographic dividend, and ultimately promote the development of India as a nation.

KEYWORDS

India, higher education policy, educational reform, historical institutionalism

CITE THIS PAPER

Que Ling, Yong Xiong, Long Bai, Runzi Zhou, The Changing Process, Logic and Trend of Indian Higher Education Policy: An Analysis Based on the Framework of Historical Institutionalism. Adult and Higher Education (2023) Vol. 5: 93-106. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/aduhe.2023.050914.

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