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Abstract:
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The 21st century is marked by a paradigm shift in education that has resulted both
in threats and opportunities. It has brought new challenges and an opportunity for
higher education. Higher education in India is undergoing rapid changes. The
challenges ahead are multifaceted and multidimensional. Though the data show a
massive growth in the number of students' enrollment in colleges/universities, holistic
view reveals that still only a meager of the total population has access to higher
education. Globalization and privatization are imposing new challenges but the
nations are still entangled in solving the basic problems of accessibility to higher
education for all. In the wake of the transition from elitist to mass education,
universities worldwide are under pressure to enhance access and equity, on the one
hand, and to maintain high standards of quality and excellence, on the other. Today
the notion of equity not only implies greater access to higher education, but also
opportunities for progress. In recent debates on higher education, the notions of equity
and access go beyond minority to diversity. Affirmative action, too, has become raceexclusive
and gender-neutral.1 |