After a year or more of an involved pandemic, the world had seen considerable changes. Therefore, it is not just the global economy that has seen the extreme brunt of the sudden lockdown but also the Education sector. The students and the faculties significantly had to adjust to the new normal of virtually attending the E-Schooling. However, over two years of experience in E-education, the sector seemed to recover slowly from the brunt of pandemics.

Ipsos surveyed adults in multiple countries as many as 29 on how the individuals see higher education being delivered in five years’ duration. The survey signified that the maximum number of individuals from the regions specified that the split between online and in-person learning has emerged. This development came about during the COVID-19. Furthermore, as the world will take time to be free from this hideous catastrophic event, Higher Education will have to be delivered primarily on online mode.

Moreover, Respondents in China and Japan during this survey were most likely to see higher education delivered mainly in person. It is significant because the system has an excellent route to deal with the pandemic and successfully conquer it. At the same time, several respondents from other regions stated that Higher education would touch a virtual world and learning. But as per half of the adults surveyed, in-person education is worth its costs.

Higher Education after five years: quality enhances or erodes?

The world has seen enough of the most dreadful pandemic. The second wave of COVID 19 saw a surge in cases across the globe. The World Economic Forum surveyed more than 27,500 adults in 29 countries and asked how they anticipate higher education in their countries five years from now. The research estimates that by 2025, Higher Education will transform into a hybrid form of Education with the blended mode of learning and teaching. In such a model of education, education will occur both online and offline mode. However, the nature of delivering education will differ with the world’s circumstances and how a country has been fighting off the pandemic.

The quality of education most likely does not seem to be affected but can even be enhanced. It will be because students won’t significantly sit back and depend solely on the traditional resources to refer. But, they will also utilise the multiple standard materials, which are available online through e-books and pdf formats by multiple sites. This accessibility will also come with a reasonable rate than those hard copies of the material, which are substantially higher.

3rd wave, India and higher education 

Recently many countries have shown the report of an updated variant of Covid-19 ‘Omicron’, raising the concern at a global level.

As per World Health Organization (WHO), the new Omicron strain poses a global ‘high risk’. Furthermore, as per an assessment by WHO, “Given mutations may confer immune escape potential and possibly transmissibility advantage. Therefore, the likelihood of the probable spread of Omicron at the global level is high. Depending on these characteristics, there could be future surges of Covid-19, which could have severe consequences. Furthermore, depending on several factors, the COVID 19 cases may surge in the different regions. And the overall global risk related to the new variant Omicron is assessed to be very high.” However, the vaccine has prevailed to be exceptionally effective in reducing the consequences of the virus, further lessening the mortality rate.

In contrast, one should consider that almost half of the population across the globe are yet to be vaccinated. It is either a single dose or be fully vaccinated. As per the circumstances, the mode of education and mainly higher education remains a possibility of a blended model of education in the coming years.

New Education Policy of India and Higher Education

Today, India has over 1,000 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which comprises over 150 national importance. Moreover, over the years, it has also turned into a hub of scientific research.

As for the three aspects- education, knowledge generation and innovation, the Indian Higher Education institutions have performed exceptionally well. It was respectively in the first two aspects but lacked in the innovative front.

However, India came up with the New Education Policy amid the pandemic. It has undoubtedly laid down impressive aspects which can effectively transform the higher education system in India. The introduction of the policy has been the watershed moment for the higher education institutions in the region. The watershed policy is expected to enhance higher education in India by making HEIs work on “solutions to the problems” rather than “solutions looking for a problem” in multiple ways.

Indian academia has conventionally been focused on Research and Development without much emphasis on its relevance and delivery. Establishing the National Research Foundation (NRF) will connect academia with the Ministries and Industry. It will enable an ample opportunity of funding for researches that are significant to local needs. Furthermore, under the NRF, each government ministry is expected to allocate separate funds for research. NRF is expected to pose well-defined problems to researchers. It is so that the solutions can be found as soon as possible in an objectives oriented and duration bound manner.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Delhi focused on the problems related to detecting viruses. They further contributed to protection and treatment. They also further launched the world’s most affordable RT-PCR. They also developed antigen-based testing kits, which are available widely. Moreover, the researchers provided export quality of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) through a start-up system. These COVID-19 technologies developed at IIT-Delhi have touched millions of people and helped the nation fight the pandemic.

Secondly, NEP unleashes the technology development potential of HEIs. It would enable not only to come up with Multi-disciplinary purposes but also extend the scope and offerings.

And thirdly, NEP to increase the gross enrolment ratio (GER) from the current 26% to 50% by 2035. It will enable the region to establish new HEIs and also scale up existing HEIs. However, this expansion will require substantial financial resources and also will call for a new governance model.

Lastly, NEP is expecting to bring in substantial funding. For the first time the government promises to allocate a budget for higher education enhancement. It will emerge as a fixed percentage of Gross Domestic Product of 6. It will be an extremely vital and game changer for Higher Education Institutions for Development.

But until now, Indian HEIs lacked international diversity and predominantly remained at local standard. But NEP mechanisms for Indian HEIs have opened up the endeavours to international campuses across the world. So it will enhance the global footprint and also the perception globally.

Higher Education: Five years from now!

Though the dynamic National Education Policy has been a watershed policy, its dream attributes to the enhanced higher educational promises. However, it may be a far-fetched dream if significant actions are not taken regarding the factors affecting the educational reach to the students in remote villages.

The third wave is presently confirmed to be far more dangerous. Thus, furthermore, with a not fully vaccinated population and the insufficient cautious public, the cases are likely to spike. There are affirmations that vaccines are the best solution to drive the population to a safer space. But, this assertion is doubtful with the more robust mutation variants of the virus. This uncertainty will drag the students of higher education back to the households. Furthermore, most of the student population from remote areas will face the consequences of inadequate access to virtual classes. There will be the possibility of a knowledge gap within those communities of the students due to such circumstances.

However, suppose the government looks out for the gaps and loopholes in the provision of the education system and provides practical solutions. In that case, there is a high possibility of a prosperous Higher Education’s Future.

The prediction: five years from now

• The colleges and universities will try to open. But this initiative will be challenging if the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t subside or control with the verge of a new normal.
• Colleges will remain and mainly maintained with a significant online presence. The pandemic has transposed the whole education system. As such, there is a tremendous possibility for higher education institutions to transform most of their courses into a blended teaching model. This blended model will most likely be dominated by online mode.
• There will be a debate on the mode of education. As education through online mode has proved to be quite successful, many institutions may substitute in-person education for online mode. But this may raise complicated situations for the students being in the remote areas of the region. Thus the primary debate over the value of the traditional model of education may arise.
• There will be massive online competition and consolidation. As with the extensive virtual higher education, there will be massive programs provided virtually, which will have a massive value in the digital age of work. Thus, this will raise the competition in applying for the course and significantly be benefitted from it.

The pandemic has shown that as many as 1.3 Billion learners will remain affected in 2020 as the pandemic forced schools, colleges, universities to close and adopt the “blended” teaching-learning strategies. As per Ipsos survey by World Economic Forum, about three-quarters (7likely,s asserted higher education is likely to transform. They stated that higher education in their region would be conducted online as much as in-person, if not more. In addition, significant courses of higher education are foreseen to be delivered utilising IT. It will replace the traditional campus, so the hi-tech companies have a higher possibility to enter the market. In some cases, likely, those companies will also partner with the universities. So we can expect things like “The University of Delhi, powered by Google”.

Nevertheless, these massive changes even have negative repercussions. Regardless, if seen in favourable terms, it will open up the diverse field of Education across the globe. Besides, it will enhance the quality of qualifications of the students.