Get ready to pay more for higher education

That's the message we are getting from Indian Institute of Technology, the premiere institute for engineering studies in India. And why not ? They are imparting quality education for decades, can best be compared with some of the most reputed higher education institutes in the world and still need to depend on the Government for funds. The dependence not only eats into the tax-payers money but also invites greater Govt interference into the day-to-day operations of IITs. Also I believe that the Govt has greater responsibility towards improving the primary education, especially in the rural areas and those funds must be diverted there.

One may argue against this by making case for poor students who may be denied access to these quality institutes. But I am sure in a free and competitive economy (that's what we want to be), there will be enough banks and institutes to support these students through educational loans as long as there are strict laws and their effective enforcement regarding the loan repayments once these students pass out of the institutions and start drawing hefty six figure salaries. I must say, no eligible student should ever be denied access to these institutes for lack of money. At the same time, no child in this country be denied access to primary education for the same reason.

Does that mean I need to look back and see if I need to contribute to my alma mater ? I think so. I graduated from IIT Bombay in year 2001. I received IBM fellowship of Rs 8000 p.m (wow! too much for that time :-)), but probably still paid a very small amount towards my fees. The only thing I can draw satisfaction from is the fact that I stayed back in this country and probably have paid enough taxes in last seven years to compensate the Govt subsidy received for my higher education.