Internationalisation of education has been an area of focus in the National Education Policy (NEP 2020). However, it is yet to pick up steam in India, due to multifold reasons. “Indian universities lack the right kind of infrastructure to meet the standards set up by international institutes. Further, these courses are available at high price points, which may create a gap between quality and accessibility of international education,” Rajendra Prasad Sharma, professor, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, told FE Education. 

Industry experts opined that there are two ways to handle this – firstly, foreign universities can create their campuses under ‘green fields’, where-in funds will be infused since the beginning. Second, under the ‘brown fields’ model foreign universities can acquire Indian colleges. 

Furthermore, it is believed that through such a system universities can participate in student exchange programmes and nurture quality education. “Previously, state universities were not incensitivised as IITs or IIMs. Since the government aims to promote the international programmes now, it is expected that state universities will get more exposure and funds,” Kartik Dave, dean of public policy and social entrepreneurship, Ambedkar University, said. 

Moreover, such collaborations are expected to provide a level playing field when compared with IITs or IIMs. “When some educational development happens at a national level, it opens avenues for all small and medium scale institutions as well. It further enables institutions to sign memorandum of understanding (MoU) organically. In addition, the introduction of new courses will also create job opportunities for students within the country,” Kabeer Jasuja, professor, IIT Gandhinagar, said, 

With this move, it is further expected that spending on education in the homeland will increase and thereby further aid in growth of the sector. “Most of the students who go abroad with scholarships, bag some part-time jobs there, such as teaching assistantships. This system will be minimised when the foreign universities come to India,” Sharma explained. 

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