Bhubaneswar: It is no secret, Indians have been occupying positions of power and great repute at some of the world’s best multinational companies, including Google and Microsoft. Indian universities are to be thanked for that.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi now thinks that the Indian Universities can be even better with competition from global names like Yale, Oxford and Stanford.
PM Modi’s government is pushing to overhaul the country’s heavily regulated education sector to woo nearly 750,000 students who spend about $15 billion each year pursuing degrees overseas, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said in written responses to questions, reported the NDTV.
“There has been lot of enthusiasm. Australia’s government and some universities had shown interest in the proposal. Very soon, India will have some of the finest, world-class institutions,” said Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.
India needs to boost its education sector to become more competitive and close the growing gap between college curricula and market demands. It’s currently ranked 72 among 132 nations in the 2020 Global Talent Competitiveness Index that measures the nation’s ability to grow, attract and retain talent.
However, India’s tricky bureaucracy, land acquisition law, lack of adequate academic staff, and infrastructure may pose problems for foreign universities.
The minister didn’t specify what incentives India will offer to attract foreign universities, except that institutions, which are required to operate not-for-profit, will be on a playing field with local players. However, some universities have already set up partnerships with Indian institutions, allowing students to partially study in India and complete their degrees on the main campus abroad. The current move encourages these overseas institutions to set up campuses without local partners.
“We’ll seek new opportunities to further pursue such collaborations as India’s new policy is implemented,” said Joe Wong, a vice-president at the University of Toronto, which has a tie-up with Tata Trusts and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
However, certain foreign universities like the University of Washington, London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Western Australia have said they have no plans of setting up campuses in India.
On the other hand, McGill University and the University of Sydney are looking to expand their partnerships in India through new courses or research programs.