Close to a hundred twinning programmes ? run jointly by a foreign education provider and an Indian institute ? have received a breather from the government with the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) exempting them from the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations of taking mandatory approvals from it.
As per the revised guidelines, degrees granted as part of twinning or collaborative programmes between Indian and foreign universities on foreign soil, will be recognised by the government. This is a great respite to almost 100 such programmes in the country which were under threat from UGC guidelines which, in an attempt to rein in fly-by-night operators who have set up shops in India, had made its approval mandatory for all collaborations between foreign and Indian educational institutions. Besides, it gave existing institutions six months to get approval.
“Twinning programmes are offered in collaboration wherein a part of the course is offered here and the rest in the respective country. They will continue to operate as it is if they conduct their final semester and offer degrees on foreign soil,? said a senior ministry official, without sharing the number of students who got a breather from this amendment.
As per a study conducted by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), 631 foreign education providers were operating in the country in 2010. Of these, 440 were functioning from their home campuses, 5 opened their own campuses in India, 60 had programmatic collaboration with local institutions, 49 were operating under twinning arrangements and 77 had arrangements other than twinning or programmatic collaboration. The data complied by AIU showed an upward trend in the Foreign Education Providers advertising in India from 144 in 2000 to 631 in 2010. In fact, all the twinning programmes are in MBA and hotel management courses only.
A twinning programme is one whereby students enrolled with a foreign education provider complete their study partly in India and partly in any other educational institution situated outside India. “Foreign degrees will not come under our jurisdiction and hence, they can operate,? the official added.
Out of the 440 foreign universities reported to be operating from their home campuses, 158 were from the UK, followed by 80 from Canada, 44 from the US and 43 from Australia, among others.
The UGC regulations came in the backdrop of the parliamentary standing committee’s report on foreign education providers which noted that out of the 60 foreign education providers having programmatic collaboration with local institutions, only 25 local institutions were affiliated to Indian universities or approved by regulatory bodies. Similarly, only 32 out of 49 twinning arrangements had the required approvals.
?What is more disturbing is that AICTE Regulations for Entry and Operation of Foreign Universities imparting technical education in India have failed to regulate the activities of foreign education providers dealing with technical education,? the report added.
