Too many people spend 3-4 years getting a college 'education' that can be completed in 6 months. Vast amounts of money are spent by both governments and families in this, with 85% of it being wasteful. 1 out of 10 families are probably closer to poverty due to education costs !!
Education is the best example of our 'input' mindset. We think that somehow a set of inputs, theoretically justifiable, and applied patchily, is the same as good outcomes. In fact, we quite intentionally avoid all scrutiny of outcomes, pointing always to inputs instead.
We have a vast machinery (UGC, AICTE, Boards, and more) to 'recognise' educational institutions, but none of them has so far recognised the truth !! Where the rubber hits the road is at the time of seeking jobs, which is why we have high unemployment rates for college grads.
75% of the colleges can be closed, and none will notice. Another 10-15% can host no more than half the seats they applied for and got, and they need to be right-sized. But we may have reached a tough stage - the enormity of what needs to be done is the reason why it is not done.
In that situation, it is vital to stand up an alternative to the present dysfunction, and hope this will eventually supplant the old. But governments are reluctant, because any acceleration of learning is only possible by loosening sarkari controls and the arbitrage they provide.
Whether massive public dissatisfaction can force a change remains to be seen. We have pretty low bars for a lot of things, and people have been accepting them. It's getting more expensive to go on doing that, and maybe the window for change lies within that reality.
Governments tend to replace one rigid failed system with another rigid one, when things go wrong, without acknowledging that rigidity itself is the problem. Increasingly, in many sectors, we have to get comfortable with diversity of approaches, and let them be judged on outcomes.
