Foreign academic tie-ups

The decision to allow high-ranked Indian universities and colleges to offer dual and joint degrees with top foreign universities, without prior approval of the University Grants Commission, promises to usher in a paradigm shift in higher education. In the long run, the benefits of easing the rules for academic collaborations could far outweigh the perceived concerns like commercialisation and springing up of institutions with an imprint of inequity embedded. The internationalisation of Indian institutions, that raises the bar, offers a cross-cultural experience and promotes interdisciplinary education, is bound to have a spiralling effect. One that forces due attention to the quality of education being imparted, and sets new standards associated with the best.

Since all the arrangements would be through the conventional mode and not online, open or distance-learning, the possibilities that international campuses and tie-ups could open are boundless — a free flow of ideas, conventions, markedly different teaching and research methods, and of course, the influx of foreign students. It may still take some time for the exodus burden to see a dip, but a beginning would have been made. A cap on course fee and more scholarships would hopefully be on the mind of the regulator, even as it has chosen to reduce its supervisory role. For professional programmes in disciplines such as engineering, medicine and law, though, the approval of statutory councils or bodies will still be needed.

Viewing the entry of foreign entities into the Indian higher education space only through a commercial angle would be a narrow interpretation. There is a huge void that pushes so many Indians to dig deep into their savings and borrow to fund their children’s education abroad and account for the additional expenses. The presence of top-notch facilities is expected to lead to change that seeks an achievable shot at excellence within the country, and certainly at not as high a cost.