Foreign universities seek partnerships in India

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: Foreign universities are now increasingly looking forward to partnerships with Indian universities specifically institutes of higher learning and research with a view to expand their programmes and outreach.

Recently, during the Belgian King Albert II’s visit, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, signed a contract with the Universite’ libre de Bruxelles for cooperation in micro-finance research. Additionally, the Universite’ catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve signed a MoU with The Energy Research Institute (TERI) so as to collaborate on projects related to energy, climate change, environment and sustainable development.

Last week, a large delegation visited India from the university of Cologne, Germany led by its mayor Fritz Schramma. The university rector, Axel Freimuth and his team went around the country seeking partnerships with the university of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IIM Ahmedabad, University of Pondicherry, IIM Bangalore and the National Law School, Bangalore.

Keeping in view the prevailing situation, Ficci-Ernst & Young study has said, “despite government initiatives, there exists a significant gap in the demand for higher education and the supply of infrastructure facilities. The government needs to step not only through improvised regulatory framework but through a different form of strategy—public-private partnership (PPP).”

According to the study, higher education institutions (HEIs) can operate as a not-for-profit basis like as a trust or a society. Few HEIs that operate as a company registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act are not recognised by the UGC and AICTE. The participation by the private sector in HEIs has been on the rise in recent years but the scale of demand and opportunity has led to signification lapses in quality and governance. Hence an effective PPP model backed by appropriate regulation can resolve the issue. The proposed regulatory framework should also facilitate the entry of foreign institutions.

With a view to take this concept further the apex industry body, Ficci along with the Canadian government has planned a two-day higher education summit in Delhi. University of Waterloo, Association of Community Colleges of Canada and representatives from a number of universities and colleges of Canada are expected to participate.

The higher education summit is slated to be inaugurated by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The valedictory address on November 26 will be given by the President and CEO of Asia Pacific Foundation, Paul Evans. Apart from Canada delegated from 10 countries including UK, US, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Belarus, Kenya, Rwanda, Gabon are expected to participate.