Higher Education in India and Thailand: A Comparative Study of Some Aspects

The present world is a globalized world where every country is developing itself by learning from other countries. Whatever growth and development are achieved by a country in higher education are also the result of learning and replicating the good practices of other countries. The same applies to India and Thailand. The present paper is an attempt to highlight the higher education system in two Asian countries of India and Thailand and to compare some aspects of higher education in the two countries. Thus, objectives of the study are to highlight and compare types of higher education institutions in India and Thailand, gross enrolment ratio (GER) at tertiary level, gross graduation ratio at tertiary level and positions of India and Thailand in Asian University Ranking and Ranking of World Universities. The study adopts a descriptive method of study. Data about higher education in the two countries were collected from secondary sources mainly from various internet sources. Data are presented in a tabular form for clarity, analysis and interpretation. The study found that: (i) There is no much difference in the broad classification of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India and Thailand, (ii) India has more universities in terms of number as well as student population at tertiary level but Thailand has more universities in terms of university-population ratio, (iii) Gross Enrolment Ratios (GERs) in tertiary education for 5 consecutive years from 2011 to 2015 are higher and better in Thailand than in India (iv) Gross Graduation Ratio in tertiary education is higher and better in India than that in Thailand. In both the countries, female's Gross Graduation Ratios (GGRs) are higher than that of male's GGRs, (v) The highest rank acquired by India in the 2017 Asian University Ranking is 50th followed by 69th and 71st ranks while Thailand captures 40th rank followed by 51st and 62nd ranks, (vi) The ranks captured by top 5 universities of Thailand in the "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities - January 2017 are higher and better than that of India, (vii) Parameter-wise, universities of Thailand are much better than their counterparts in India on the parameters of Presence and Impact whereas Indian universities are much better than that of Thailand on the parameters of Openness and Excellence and (viii) In Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-2017 and in QS World University Rankings 2016-2017, Indian universities fare better than universities in Thailand.