Download Gurukul - CSE@IIT Delhi

A Wish
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held
high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world had not been
broken up into fragments …
….…
Into that heaven of freedom,
my Father, let my country
awake!
We cannot reach that heaven of freedom without education for EVERYONE ….
Project Gurudakshina
Education for all
The next few pages



State of education after 60 years of freedom
What are the obstacles to ideal education for all?
Project Gurudakshina – Offering a solution
What is Gurudakshina ?
Why Gurudakshina ?
How will it work ?
What are possible challenges ?

What next ?
Education after 60 Years of
Independence …
A crumbling and overcrowded system catering only to a select few, unable to
provide high-quality education to the masses
Government funded
education
Privatized education
•
Limited capacity
•
High fee -- caters only to few
•
Poor infrastructure
•
•
Does not employ best minds
Goal is not education and
research. Does not employ
best minds. Poor quality
•
No accountability/meritocracy,
politics, corruption
•
Easy to circumvent regulations
•
Charitable ones constrained
by regulations and resources
•
Severely constrained by rules
How can we provide affordable high-quality education at
primary, secondary and college levels to 1.1 billion?
What are the obstacles to ideal
education for all? The 3As
Affordability
How to ensure that
education is affordable
to all?
Government has limited
resources
Private education
beyond paying capacity
of the most
Few charitable
organizations with
limited resources
Availability
How to give quality
education opportunities
to people of all casts,
religions, domiciles and
Economic backgrounds?
Needs massive capital
investment in education
Accountability
How to ensure that –
System is transparent
and accountable
Fee is related to quality
of education provided
High-quality institutions
thrive and others don’t
Education is relevant to
needs of the society
Is there a paradigm that changes the face of education in India?
Project Gurudakshina – A paradigm
shift
A national movement throughout the country for establishing Universities/schools
(Gurukuls) on a massive scale that offer quality education to students free of
charge and recover their costs through contributions made by the students once
they start earning
Enablement
Only merit-based selection
No fee to be charged
Costs to be recovered through
Gurudakshina
Responsibility
Gurukul
Freedom to establish schools/colleges
Decide everything about their affairs
Teachers and alumnus to
eventually run the Gurukuls
Participation
Gurudakshina: A sound Economic model using ancient wisdom
Gurudakshina in the modern times is …
A pledge (legal contract), made by the student to pay dues after
completing education (say 10 years), according to the abilities (say 10%
of income) to the Gurukul that provided the education
Gurudakshina contract tradable in open market – Gurukuls, FIs, Mutual
funds, banks encouraged to trade
Addressing the 3As
Affordability
Availability
Accountability
Free of cost for student, no
loan burden for parents
Government resources
freed for new institutions
Gurudakshina equal to the
quality of education
Gurukuls don’t need money.
Can sell Gurudakshina
Charitable institutions can
focus on expansion
Quality institutions thrive
Self-sustainable without any
external financial support
Private players can also
provide free education
Gurukuls to anticipate
needs 10 years in future
How can it be implemented especially in the Indian context?
How will it work ?
Establishment of
Gurukuls
Transform existing Institutions
Successful Government and private
institutions transformed to Gurukuls
Collection and distribution
of Gurudakshina
Tax system for enforcement
PAN allocated when students join a Gurukul
TAX returns have a column “Gurudakshina”
No longer need financial support. Start
earning income immediately by selling
Gurudakshina contracts
Establish new Institutions
Degree used as a collateral
NSDL for transparent distribution
Free capital generated from
transforming existing institutions used
to establish new ones
Make use of Information technology to link
Income tax with national skills registry and
Gurudakshina
Private players make business case to
start new Gurukuls
Electronic Gurudakshina ownership records.
Automatic credit to the owner’s account
Will different stakeholders be interested in establishing quality Gurukuls?
Why will people be interested?





Faculty – because they get good salaries, good
research environment and are in control of education
Students – because they get free education
Government – because everyone can be educated
Entrepreneurs – because they will get good return
for their investments in Gurukuls
Financial Institutions – because they can make
money by –


Holding and trading Gurudakshina contracts
Providing equity/debt finance to Gurukuls
Is it feasible in India where many people evade taxes?
Frequently asked …
Questions
1.
What happens if despite all controls not
everyone pays Gurudakshina?
2.
What if the students leave India and go
abroad?
Answers
1.
2.
Indian economy migrating from agriculture to
services. Large tax paying middle class.
Better enforcement using PAN. Even if 75%
pay the system will be sustainable
They need to obtain Income tax clearance
3.
Will there be an excessive focus on money
in education?
3.
In general, maybe. Perhaps not, if teachers
and alumni are in control
4.
Will Gurukul teach not-lucrative subjects
such as arts, basic sciences, mathematics?
4.
Maybe not if owners seek profits. If teachers
and alumni are in charge, they may support
programs on arts/basic sciences
5.
What will be the incentive for entrepreneurs
if teachers/alumnus run the show?
5.
Need more thought. Perhaps a build-ownoperate-transfer model is needed
6.
Perhaps gender bias can be handled using
regulation (non-discrimination)
Cherry picking will be good for higher
education. Law to restrict it in schools
6.
7.
8.
Will Gurukuls teach women?
What happens if there is excessive “cherry
picking”?
7.
Will anyone teach students who are not
talented?
8.
What next?
There will still be “fee charging” institutions
We need your help …..
– Provide feedback on the idea and help refine it
– Lend some visionary eyes and ears
HELP US TAKE THIS FORWARD
India has the required infrastructure. Just needs support from the
Government in the form of an act of parliament
Backup Slides
Private Univ. + Loan
Gurukul
Free education supported
by TAX
Fee charged before education
Fee charged (much) after education
Fee paid all life after education
Fixed fee independent of
Variable fee commensurate with
value addition
Fixed tax paid by everyone
Quality
of education
Means of the student
Paid to the college
Quality
of education
Means of the graduate
Paid to college
Independent
of quality of education
Paid to government
Complex allocation process
Prone to corruption
Not affordable to poor if banks don’t
step in
Affordable to everyone
Affordable only to select few who
are admitted
Supply created only for rich
Supply created for talent
Constrained supply creation
Tension: How will I pay my loan?
No tension: means based payment
No tension: means based payment
Incentives to target kids of rich
Incentives to target talent
No incentives at all
Large distributed decision making
Large distributed decision making
Small centralized decision making
Little incentive for placements
No incentive for long-term career
growth of students
Very strong incentive for placements
and long term careers growth
No incentives at all
Need to lure parents/students
One shot game
Asymmetric information
Need to lure FIs, MFs
Repeated game
Information and resources at
disposal of FIs, MFs and banks
Need to convince administrative
bodies
Complex process
Not transparent, may not be fair
Strong competition
Strong competition
No competition
Owner rules, profit motive
Faculty/alumni rule, social motive
Government rules, multiple motives
Based on capitalistic system
Based on ancient Indian system
Based on socialistic principles
More about National Securities
Depositary Limited (NSDL)










A professional semi-government body
Maintains the electronic database of ownership of stock scripts (DMAT)
Best service in the world (at par with NYSE/NASDAQ)
Transformed Indian capital markets in a very small time
Creating Tax Information Network (TIN) -- A repository of nationwide tax
related information
Modernizing system for collection, processing, monitoring of direct taxes
using IT and PAN database
Maintaining national skills registry – big IT companies require employees
to have updated information in NSR
Gurudakshina contracts ownership, trade and its integration with TAX,
ECS and NSR systems easy for NSDL – the infrastructure already exists
Can charge a small fee (percent) to meet its expenses
Can also provide electronic clearing system (ECS)

Gurudakshina credited transparently to bank account of the owner of contract