Going by their initial reaction, the Union government?s move to give the green signal for top international educational institutes to come and set up campus in India has elicited lukewarm response from foreign educational institutions . They are apprehensive that the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010, will be watered down before it is passed by Parliament. Even if a diluted version of the Bill gets passed, many premier international institutes would prefer to make their presence felt in India through tie-ups with established Indian players.
Prof Steve Smith of the Exeter University, who also holds the post of president of universities, UK, who was on a visit to India recently, stressed how significant it is for foreign institutions to maintain the tie-ups. ?I met Kapil Sibal in London in January and he was of the opinion that we (India and the UK) should work together. Now when we are here, we aim to build partnerships with Indian institutions rather than draw students to British universities. We aim to enter into collaborative research with institutions like IIT Delhi, IIM Bangalore and IISc Bangalore,? he said. On setting up new campuses, he said: ?New legislation could open up the way not for overseas campuses, but increased research cooperation with elite Indian universities, for the benefit of both parties.?
Apart from several meetings with Indian institutions as well as with representatives from Ficci and the HRD minister, his trip also focused on cross training of faculty, joint workshops and greater collaboration for research by PhD students.
Other UK universities such as Leeds had carried out similar operations with Indian institutes like BITS Pilani, and IIM-A earlier. According to Pooja Khullar, regional manager, University of Leeds: ?Students in their joint programme study for a fixed period of time both in India and the UK and are awarded with a degree from the foreign university at the conclusion of the programme.?
So, despite having a government in India that has been more accommodating than ever before towards foreign institutions, why do they focus more on collaboration? Why are they not enthusiastic about opening their own campuses in India? To begin with, until the Bill becomes law, collaborations are mandatory. ?Even apart from the mandatory angle, it will be very difficult for foreign universities to administer in India. Beyond a few top-league universities, many brands are rather unknown in India. There are many tax and regulatory requirements which are quite complex for a foreign university to comprehend and comply with in the initial years. The returns for taking the risk is not significant enough,? says Narayanan Ramaswamy of KPMG Advisory Services. Foreign institutions will also have to deal with issues that are highly sensitive like the SC/ST and OBC quotas over which the government maintains a strategic silence. No wonder, foreign educational institutions choose to tread carefully by forming collaborations first.
These collaborations have allowed less affluent students to aim for an international degree from some of the world?s best universities at a discount price and from a city near them. The student saves on money by avoiding the transit and living costs as well as by paying at the international rates only for the years spent abroad.
However, for a large number of Indian students, studying abroad is also a ticket to enter a developed country and find employment as well as citizenship there. ?Students who go overseas do so not only for the educational qualification, but also because they want to experience a foreign land. Many use it as a pathway to work in a global environment. Studying in foreign campuses in India will not give them this experience. The benefit (of foreign universities coming to India) will only be that Indian institutions will get some challenge which is welcome,? remarks Ravi Lochan, managing director, Global Consultancies.
Collaborations exist in only a handful of elite institutes and that too, in a very limited number of fields. Hence, the impact it makes on the business of foreign education in India remains minimal. Student enrolments in foreign universities show a marked increase every year with a few discrepancies that are caused by fluctuations in visa regulations of certain countries like the UK in recent times. The US, the market leader, showed a figure of 1,03,260 student enrolments by September 2009 compared with 94,563 a year ago. Even the controversy-hit Australia shows a jump in student enrolments from 80, 000 in 2008 to 1 lakh in 2009. A major increase in enrolments is predicted over the next few years as smaller destinations like New Zealand push to grow the number of student intake by 10% every year for the next three years.
Student exchange, faculty training and research collaboration with foreign universities do not make a big impression on the Indian student?s choices. Only through a radical expansion of study programmes or through exclusive home-grown campuses of overseas institutes can an alternative be offered to the steadily rising number of Indian students going abroad for higher studies. Until then, for the hopefuls, the grass remains greener on the other side. sonali.chowdhury@expressindia.com
