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Their counterparts in the private sector have a longer runway in building reputation although their revenue model is more robust. Endowments to established centres of excellence address both sides of the problem. With a lower cost of education, public-funded institutes can draw in a larger talent pool as opposed to merit-based scholarship on market-determined tuition fees. Philanthropy can, moreover, nudge academia to direct its attention to the larger social good as opposed to its limited profit-driven engagement with industry.
The concentration of excellence in public education must, however, yield to market reality. The private sector provides more higher education in the country than state-funded or -aided colleges. Private institutions need to emerge from the shadow of their more celebrated peers. Business and philanthropy can help keep costs of private education low and deliver better outcomes. Public institutions, on their part, need to scale up without diluting standards.
Endowments have typically worked better in lower education in India, and corporate support has applied itself higher up the pyramid. A case can be made for a reversal of roles, given the challenges of primary education that elude solutions based on philanthropy or state-funding.
Neither the state nor individual enterprise has worked out a way to equip India's labour pool with skills needed in a knowledge economy. Educational attainments at all levels - primary, secondary and tertiary - trail by international comparison. As the principal stakeholder, industry must address the base and the middle of the funnel. Individuals, however thick their wallet or stout their heart, can at best play a supporting role.
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