The latest draft guidelines are part of a new education policy with ideas dating back to the 1990s.
UPDATE – 12:42 AM, MON – 1/9/23
The latest draft guidelines are part of a new education policy with ideas dating back to the 1990s.
Hyderabad: The proposal to allow leading foreign universities to set up campuses in India is a belated but welcome development that has the potential to change the higher education landscape in the country. Under draft regulations issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC), foreign universities can set up campuses in India, decide on their admission procedures, fee structure and also remit funds back to their alma maters. It is a radical policy departure for a country unable to shed its colonial character, designed to mass-produce clerks and stifle innovative thinking, and that has allowed structural deficiencies to continue undermining the growth needed for genuine transformation for decades. The latest draft guidelines are part of a new education policy with ideas dating back to the 1990s.
Political posturing has delayed much-needed reform. The last attempt was made by the UPA-II in 2010 in the form of the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, which failed to pass through parliament and lapsed in 2014 as the then-opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, along with the left and Samajwadi parties, opposed The bill. The Saffron Party, now in power, has recognized the importance of restructuring the higher education sector. Due to the lack of opportunities at home and the low quality of higher education, a large number of Indian students go abroad every year in search of a better career path. Over the past two decades, overseas branch schools have sprung up all over the world. According to statistics from the cross-border education research team of the State University of New York at Albany, there are currently more than 200 international branch campuses of foreign universities around the world.
American universities alone have more than 70 foreign campuses, most of which are concentrated in China and the Gulf countries. Interestingly, most of the funding for overseas campuses of American universities comes mainly from the host country government. While India offers no such financial or infrastructural support, it is hoped that the sheer size of the target market will be enough to attract foreign universities to consider India as a potential destination. Currently, more than a quarter of Indians aged 18-23 are enrolled in college or university. This leaves a large potential market for foreign education providers. While the draft UGC regulations aim to provide considerable operational freedom and financial autonomy to foreign educational institutions willing to tap into the Indian market, attracting top universities could still be a formidable challenge. However, in a positive development, some European universities have shown strong interest in opening offices in India. The courses offered by overseas campuses of foreign universities may be diverse, such as urban design, fashion design and other fields, rather than being limited to traditional popular subjects such as computer science and engineering.
