Shyam Sunder, professor of accounting, economics and finance at the Yale School of Management speaks to Shashank Venkat on his current research on the state of higher educationin India
Q- Your current research is based on the state of higher education in India. What are the challenges for higher education in India?
There is not enough talent going into higher education i.e into teaching and research. Top ranking students do not want to get into teaching and research. Education institutes in India are not centres of innovation; new ideas, theories, inventions. We are not at the frontier when it comes to invention. Our best brains get into selling soap. The second major issue is financing. No university in the world delivers quality education at a profit. To be a good university, you need to have quality people working for you and preparing PhD students to teach the next generation. On an average, 40-50 per cent of the expenses for American universities come from tuition fees. In India, 150-200 per cent of the expenses come from tuition fees. We are a country of 1.2 billion people. A lakh or two among them are bright. India has to worry about the other 25 lakh.
Q- Which areas in higher education are in need for reform?
Apart from the issue of talent and financing, there is also the question of the system of governance at universities. Research is about ideas. The usual measures of performance do not apply in the world of ideas. Rigid rules and regulations hinder performance. Politicians and civil servants have a stranglehold on education. They do not want you to have any room for judgment. There is also the issue of lack of good teachers. Additionally, there is a history of businesses supporting education in India. But businessmen, today, think that education is a great way to make money. We have to find solutions to these problems. We need to introduce the youth to the world of ideas.
Q- Tell us about your current research in the field of accounting.
My research is based on the value of finance to the society. The financial industry has made a lot of money all over the world. Has the industry really made money by adding wealth to the society or is it just transfer of wealth from some people to the finance industry? I want to separate these two things.
Q- Could you elaborate on the Yale-India Higher Education Leadership forum?
This programme was initiated last September where Yale and the HRD ministry got into an agreement to work with the leadership of the higher education in India. We get the vice-chancellors, registrars of the Indian universities to come down to the US for two weeks. They spend a week at Yale learning how it is works and discuss various aspects like fund raising, curriculum, admissions, teaching, faculty, faculty development, sports, administration, etc.
Q- Your current research is based on the state of higher education in India. What are the challenges for higher education in India?
There is not enough talent going into higher education i.e into teaching and research. Top ranking students do not want to get into teaching and research. Education institutes in India are not centres of innovation; new ideas, theories, inventions. We are not at the frontier when it comes to invention. Our best brains get into selling soap. The second major issue is financing. No university in the world delivers quality education at a profit. To be a good university, you need to have quality people working for you and preparing PhD students to teach the next generation. On an average, 40-50 per cent of the expenses for American universities come from tuition fees. In India, 150-200 per cent of the expenses come from tuition fees. We are a country of 1.2 billion people. A lakh or two among them are bright. India has to worry about the other 25 lakh.
Q- Which areas in higher education are in need for reform?
Apart from the issue of talent and financing, there is also the question of the system of governance at universities. Research is about ideas. The usual measures of performance do not apply in the world of ideas. Rigid rules and regulations hinder performance. Politicians and civil servants have a stranglehold on education. They do not want you to have any room for judgment. There is also the issue of lack of good teachers. Additionally, there is a history of businesses supporting education in India. But businessmen, today, think that education is a great way to make money. We have to find solutions to these problems. We need to introduce the youth to the world of ideas.
Q- Tell us about your current research in the field of accounting.
My research is based on the value of finance to the society. The financial industry has made a lot of money all over the world. Has the industry really made money by adding wealth to the society or is it just transfer of wealth from some people to the finance industry? I want to separate these two things.
Q- Could you elaborate on the Yale-India Higher Education Leadership forum?
This programme was initiated last September where Yale and the HRD ministry got into an agreement to work with the leadership of the higher education in India. We get the vice-chancellors, registrars of the Indian universities to come down to the US for two weeks. They spend a week at Yale learning how it is works and discuss various aspects like fund raising, curriculum, admissions, teaching, faculty, faculty development, sports, administration, etc.
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