In what appears to be a clear acknowledgement that the heavily regulated education sector in India will be unable to cope with the expected surge in university education, the government is all set to open up the sector to foreign players. The clearance of the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010 by the Union Cabinet paves the way for it to be introduced in Parliament this year. If the Bill becomes law, it will allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India. In the coming years, India will be the happy hunting ground for the top-notch global universities. Yet, it will be many months?probably years?before results from liberalising the higher education sector become apparent.
Nearly 50 proposals from foreign universities, including Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Imperial College London, are awaiting the government?s clearance. Until now foreign universities operated through partnerships with their Indian counterparts. Now the Bill allows foreign players to run solo ventures in India. There are some worthy caveats, though. The Bill sets tough conditions for foreign universities looking to set up campuses in India. Only universities accredited abroad will be allowed?permission to set shop and no franchises will be encouraged. This precondition would help ensure that no fly-by-night operators mushroom like in the past.
Aspiring foreign universities will have to deposit Rs 50 crore as corpus fund and cannot repatriate surplus money generated from their education activities in India. The bar on taking back money will limit the appeal of India to many foreigners, but the Bill removes a clause in the existing law that forbids foreign varsities from conferring degrees in the country. The proposed Bill prescribes an eight-month time-bound format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses. Each institute will have to be registered with the University Grants Commission (UGC) or any regulatory body in place at the time of registration. The Bill also has a provision under which the government can reject an application of a university if it feels that the venture will have an adverse impact on national security.
Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal has remarked that ?a larger revolution than the telecom sector awaits us?. Both the minister?s words and the prospects of reversing the ?brain drain? could be swiftly undone if the process of application for registration with the regulator is tied in knots with red tape. An estimated 1,20,000 Indian students go abroad every year.?With UGC as the regulatory body that will examine fees and profits, bigger brand power, superior faculty and cutting-edge technology will not necessarily make it easier for foreign players to grab the Indian market.
Yet, as in every other sector liberalised, there are questions raised about level-playing field. To begin with, UGC as the regulator does not inspire much confidence. Given the way many shoddy players with political connections and money power got away with the deemed (or, as one commentator put it, doomed) varsity status in the country in the past decade, how can one be sure that corruption and opaque regulation won?t mar the ?revolution? the minister talked about? Who will prevent many profit-seeking fly-by-night foreign varsities from setting shop in India? What will prevent unfair practices? What guarantee is there that the whole exercise would not degenerate into mere licensing and control?
Apart from core regulatory concerns, there is a fear that the provisions applicable to foreign universities would not be the same as that for the Indian universities. While foreign universities are likely to set up campuses in India, there is no clarity on the kind of degrees they would offer. ?Strict parameters should be set for selecting the foreign?educational institutes to ensure that only the?best be allowed,? opines B S Sahay, director of MDI, Gurgaon.
Ideally, the degrees offered by foreign universities in India should be the same as that they offer in their own country. Devi Singh, director, IIM Lucknow, agrees: ?It is important that the foreign players entering India offer the same degrees and diplomas that they offer back home. This will help ensure that the certification provided by them in India will have the same value internationally as their current qualification. By ensuring this, students in India can rest assured that they will have access to the same curriculum and quality of education that these institutions provide in their own countries.?
Doubts are also raised about the impact of commercialising, or commoditisation of, higher education. Some political parties say that this trend cannot be called reforms. The Left parties have already opposed the Bill while the main opposition BJP’s reaction was also negative. They point to the provisions of providing land to foreign institutions to set up campuses here and the freedom reportedly given to them to fix fee structures, as also the likely exemptions to be granted from the existing reservation policies applicable to higher educational institutions in the country. But PK Gupta, chancellor of Sharda University, says that the entry of foreign varsities will bring ?healthy competition and local universities will be motivated to come at par with their foreign counterparts.?
Greater autonomy to premier Indian institutes will be a likely corollary to the entry of foreign players into the country. But if improving the overall standards and taking up the slack in higher education are the aim in moving the Bill, competition and choice should undergird the whole reform.
rajiv.jayaram@expressindia.com