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Also the number of world-class institutes in India, which are just a handful, compared with China, which has developed around 100 world-class institutes. Since its entry into WTO, it has opened up its education sector to allow for foreign collaborations and tie-ups. India has yet to catch up. In spite of the world renowned IITs and IIMs, there are no integrated monoliths. The proposal of seamless institutes like IISERs in Pune and Kolkata are a step in the right direction.
But the IISERs are not enough. What we require is more in the lines of world-class universities such as Nalanda and Takshila, not just isolated institutes. These universities and institutes must combine both the scientific research and education. The other research institutes in our country like CSIR (Central Institute of Scientific Research) has still not caught up with the rest of the world, and does not lure the scientists back into its fold, those who are working abroad.

The examples of such monolithic universities across Asia would include the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Tsinghua University of China, the Nanjing University of China to name a few. Unfortunately in India, we don’t have a single monolithic university that is as capable or comparable with the NUS.

The Role of Universities in the Society: Johnson (1974) distinguishes four functions of the universities: -

First, universities are seen as a symbol and repository of ‘civilization’, defending and contributing to the advancement of civilization, "through either or both setting standards of taste [...] and enabling the rest of population to increase its productivity, income and command over consumption goods. In this sense, a university is a public good, like good weather or pleasant geography."

Second, they are a home for research "which is a public good in the strict economic sense, that once produced they can be used by anyone without precluding use by others".

Third, universities are information storage depots, both physically in books and in embodied form of learned men, and finally, as a clearly recognized function; they are the place where young adults are being taught. Bear (1974) analyses the university (or any other higher education institutions) as a multi-product firm.

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* Contributed by -
Raamakrishnan M. & Aparna Renganathan,
PGP1 Students,
BIM, Trichy,
Published in KRIYA, February 2006 Issue, the monthly magazine of the institute.