CHALLENGES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN 21ST CENTURY

India is next only to China and USA in student enrollment in the higher education sector. The higher education system in India has grown in a remarkable way, particularly in the post-independence period, to become one of the largest system of its kind in the world. However, the system has many issues of concern at present, like Issues of Governance, Access and Equity, Professional Ethics and Value Education, Evaluation and Assessment Systems, Sustaining Quality, ICT initiatives, Promoting Research, Convergence, Skill Development, Enhancing Employability, and others. These issues are important for the country, as it is now engaged in the use of higher education as a powerful tool to build a knowledge-based information society of the 21st Century. Recognizing the above and the basic fact, which the Universities have to perform multiple roles, like creating new knowledge, acquiring new capabilities and producing an intelligent human resource pool, through challenging teaching, research and extension activities so as to balance both the need and the demand. Higher education is no longer a luxury. Higher education is essential for any nation for its social and economic development.