Editorial: Welcome global varsities

The latest draft guidelines are part of the New Education Policy whose idea dates back to the 1990s.

Hyderabad: The proposal to allow leading foreign universities to set up their campuses in India is a belated yet welcome development that has the potential to transform the country’s higher education landscape. According to the draft regulations released by the University Grants Commission (UGC), foreign universities can set up their campuses in India, decide their admission process, fee structure, and will also be able to repatriate funds to their parent campuses. This is a radical policy departure for a country that has been unable to shake off its colonial character, designed to churn out clerks and stifle innovative thinking, and has, for decades, allowed structural flaws to continue to impair the growth needed to achieve real transformation. The latest draft guidelines are part of the New Education Policy whose idea dates back to the 1990s.

Political posturing had delayed the much-needed reforms. The last attempt was by UPA-II in 2010 in the form of Foreign Educational Institutions Bill had failed to pass muster in Parliament and lapsed in 2014 because the BJP, which was then in the opposition, had opposed it along with the Left and Samajwadi Party. Now in power, the saffron party has realised the importance of restructuring the higher education sector. Given the inadequate opportunities and poor quality higher education at home, a large number of Indian students go abroad every year in search of greener pastures. Over the last two decades, overseas branch campuses have mushroomed across the globe. According to the Cross-Border Education Research Team at the State University of New York at Albany, there are over 200 international branch campuses of foreign universities currently operating around the globe.

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The US universities alone run over 70 foreign campuses, most of which are clustered in China and the Gulf countries. Interestingly, the funding of most of the foreign campuses of American universities mainly comes from the host countries’ governments. While India has offered no such financial or infrastructural support, it is hoped that the formidable size of the target segment would be attractive enough for the foreign universities to look at India as a potential destination. Currently, just over a quarter of India’s 18-23-year-olds are enrolled in a college or university. This leaves a vast potential market open for foreign education providers. While the draft UGC regulations seek to offer considerable operational freedom and financial autonomy to foreign education players willing to explore the Indian market, attracting top universities may still remain a big challenge. However, a positive development is that a few universities based in Europe have already shown keen interest in setting shop in India. The courses offered by the offshore campuses of the foreign universities are likely to be diverse, such as in the fields of urban design and fashion design, and need not be restricted to traditionally popular disciplines like computer science and engineering.