India announces guidelines for setting up of foreign varsities
Industry and academic experts divided over the government’s move on higher education
The University Grants Commission has announced the draft regulations for setting up and operation of campuses of foreign higher educational institutions in te country.
The final norms will be notified by the end of the month after considering feedback from stakeholders.
Noting that foreign universities with campuses in the country can only offer full-time programmes in offline mode and not online or distance learning, UGC Chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said the foreign varsities and higher educational institutions would need a nod from the commission to set up their campuses in India.
While these universities will have the freedom to decide their admission criteria and fee structure, the commission has advised keeping the fees “reasonable and transparent”. he initial approval would be for 10 years. The approval will be renewed in the ninth year, subject to the meeting of certain conditions. These institutions shall not offer any programme that jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education here, Kumar added.
Academics and industry experts had differing views on the norms, with some saying such varsities would not be able to address the unique problems of the Indian education sector.
Abha Dev Habib, a professor at Delhi University, questioned how the UGC was formulating the norms when it was supposed to be dismantled under the National Education Policy 2020.
“It is only unfortunate that the UGC, which is going to be dismantled, is making all the reforms. The very fact that the government does not have the will to discuss them as bills in Parliament is the reason that it is getting them introduced through the UGC,” she said.
Surajit Mazumdar, a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, did not see much logic behind allowing such campuses to open in India. “Academic interaction can happen across borders. But our own requirements are specific. We are a country affected by global inequality. We are also a country with special problems, including that of language since multiple languages are spoken here.
“We have to deal with challenges in universities since the majority of learners in higher education are first generation. We have concrete requirements specific to our education system,” he added.
However, Vivek Kathpalia, Managing Director & CEO — Singapore, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, said the UGC'S draft regulations were quite flexible but stressed that some more clarity would be welcome. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas is India's leading law firm that advises leading institutions, edtech companies, investors and policymakers. “The draft regulations are in a way in line with the regulations that were introduced recently for the GIFT [Gujarat International Finance Tec-city]. Previous attempts through complex legislation didn't work and a regulatory approach appears far more feasible.
“There are some areas where more clarity would be welcome, such as the role of AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) for technical courses. The draft regulations have a catch-all provision that could empower the authority to change the goalpost. This should be avoided” Kathpalia said.