Bringing Foreing Universities to India-The Hindu

8/8/2019 Bringing Foreing Universities to India-The Hindu

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Date:14/11/2006URL:http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/14/stories/2006111402491000.htm

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

Bringing foreign universities to India

Jane E. Schukoske

FOREIGN UNIVERSITIES outside India play a large role in the Indian higher educationscene. They attract many thousands of Indian students to their campuses each year 80,466Indians enrolled in U.S. institutions alone in 2004-05 and at least eight other countriesactively recruit Indian students. Graduates of accredited foreign institutions play importantroles in the development of India upon their return home. Imagine what greater opportunitieswould be available to Indian students if accredited foreign institutions offered degreeprogrammes in India to expand access to higher education to Indian students!

The attraction of study abroad for Indian students, as a supplement to the Indian highereducation available within India, is bound to continue for the foreseeable future. For moststudents, the motivation is to attain the best possible education. Competition for admission toIndia's best institutions is very intense about two per cent of those taking admission testsfor the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management gainadmission and other high-quality education options are needed for the many talentedstudents who are turned away from these and other premier institutions. Moreover, the Indianstudent population is growing at a fast pace, and Indian institutions strapped for funds will behard-pressed to create seats to accommodate the demand.

Beyond the issue of access to quality higher education, Indian educators recognise the needto supplement Indian content-rich curricula with activity-based learning and to bridge the gapbetween academia and industry. With a booming economy in the service sector industry, thetime is right to prepare graduates for tomorrow's careers. Reports have circulated that onlyone in four engineering graduates in India are employable in the IT -enabled services

industry. An article titled "Skills Gap Hurts Technology Boom in India" in TheNew YorkTimes on October 19, 2006, said the rest were found to lack required technical skills, Englishfluency, teamwork skills or oral presentation skills.

Many educators acknowledge the need for change in Indian institutions to increase focus onlife-long learning, which will result in even larger numbers of students beyond the usual19-22-year-old cohort seeking admission to higher education institutions, whether in Indiaor abroad. Indeed, we see the theme of the need for rapid expansion of a quality highereducation sector stated in a recent Government of India report. The five most importantissues facing higher education in India have been identified as access and equity; relevance;

TheInternational Education Week, November 13-17, 2006, is an initiative to celebrate and

promote the global exchange environment between the United States and other countries.

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quality and excellence; governance and management; and funding, according to theParliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, 172nd Report onUniversity and Higher Education submitted on May 22, 2006. Entry of accredited U.S.educational institutions has the potential to partially respond to all of these needs. TheCommittee Report, Section X, expresses caution about entry of foreign educationalinstitutions, however. The report states concerns rather than acknowledging potential

opportunities. The Committee notes the lack of a database of foreign educational institutionsin the country and the prospect of entry by unqualified educational institutions, and observesthat even good foreign institutions may adopt double standards in establishing institutionsabroad. The report calls for the establishment of a body to oversee all activities of foreignuniversities/institutions.

Meanwhile, U.S. educational institutions are increasingly interested in India as a nationwhich is, and will continue to be, an important world force in the coming decades.University presidential delegations from, to name a few, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, CarnegieMellon, and Purdue Universities, and other high-level delegations including one from theAsia Society, have come to India in the past two years to learn more about and from the

country. Twenty prestigious U.S. universities have partnered with Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham for active collaboration in higher education and research through e-learningand India's educational satellite, EDUSAT. Many others offer twinning programmes, underwhich the curriculum in India is approved by a foreign university, which facilitates thetransfer of academic credit for students to complete their studies at these universities. WhichU.S. educational institutions are actually interested in opening campuses in India is hard todiscern, as the ambiguity in the regulatory environment has discouraged planning and opendiscussion.

The regulatory bodies for higher education in India are concerned at the unregulated growthof foreign educational institutions setting up campuses in India or offering twinningprogrammes in partnership with Indian institutions. The statutory, apex body for highereducation in India, the University Grants Commission, has proposed guidelines forrecognition of programmes offered by Indian Universities abroad and these guidelines covertwinning programmes between Indian and foreign institutions.

A second statutory body, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has theduty to properly plan and coordinate development of the technical education systemthroughout the country, to promote qualitative improvement of such education in relation toplanned quantitative growth, and the regulation and proper maintenance of norms andstandards in the technical education system and for matters connected with it. The AICTEpublished a notification in May 2005 announcing regulations for entry and operation offoreign universities/institutions imparting technical education in India. Two linkage

programmes with U.K. universities have been approved by the AICTE since the regulationswere notified.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development appointed a high-powered committeeheaded by Professor C.N.R. Rao in January 2005 to look into all issues surrounding theentry of foreign educational institutions into India and frame recommendations. Thecommittee recommendations, based on which the Central Government is finalising a draftbill on private educational institutes that will also cover foreign educational institutes, havenot yet become public.

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Within the country, India has witnessed phenomenal growth of private higher educationalinstitutions that are granted the designation of "deemed universities" by the UGC. Fromaround 15 in 1999, the number of deemed universities has grown to more than 105 in 2006.Many of these institutions are progressive in outlook, more flexible in structure, and eager totry new educational methods and approaches.

Weighing the opportunities

Direct investment in the education sector by foreign institutions accredited in their homecountries offers the opportunity to expand access to higher education within India. Entry ofhigh quality foreign educational institutions may lead to retention of Indian investment in thecountry of some of the funds now flowing overseas. In addition to improving access bycreating more seats, U.S. institutions, known for preparing students for the job market boththrough coursework and career preparation services, can enhance the quality and relevanceof education to contemporary India.

It is very important that the Government of India, or bodies authorised by it, draw up clearregulations and procedures for foreign universities interested in establishing linkages in Indiawith Indian institutions and ensure transparent and quick implementation. It is important thatthe regulations allow academic autonomy and other features of U.S. higher education thathave caused it to reach its excellence. Foreign educational institutions and Indian partnersmust, of course, respect the laws and regulations of the land.

Looking at entry of U.S. educational institutions in light of the issues that Government ofIndia has identified as crucial for India equity and access; relevance; quality andexcellence; governance and management; and funding it is useful to see how these issuesare managed by these institutions at home. For U.S. institutions, quality control, governanceand management are maintained through the accreditation process for both institutions andprofessional programmes.

This accreditation process, by agencies recognised by either the U.S. Department ofEducation or the Council of Higher Education Accreditation, includes periodic qualityreview of programmes offered abroad. "Relevance" is part of quality, and consumers assess itthrough placement of graduates those who successfully find employment or securebackground needed for further studies would assess their education as relevant. As forfunding, U.S. institutions would assess whether programmes abroad are economically viable.Limits on tuition fees could have an adverse effect on entry of U.S. educational institutions,as such limits could interfere with the ability to offer high-quality programmes.

The United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI), whose mission is the promotion

of academic and cultural exchanges between India and the U.S., has a role in development ofpartnerships between India and U.S. institutions and facilitation of the entry andestablishment of accredited U.S. institutions in India and vice versa. USEFI regularly meetswith educational advisers from other study abroad destination countries and stands ready tocooperate in facilitating discussion by interested universities and other parties concernedwith apex higher education bodies in India.

(Jane E. Schukoske is the Executive Director, U.S. Educational Foundation in India,headquartered in New Delhi, website www.fulbright-india.org. The global website for

International Education Week is http://iew.state.gov/)

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