Foreign universities will be granted full autonomy as part of the changes being drafted in the education system by the Government of India. The proposed bill will dissolve higher education institutes like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and replace them with a singular authority of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
A salient feature of the new HECI 2019 bill, according to the reports, is that the government will allow foreign universities to open their institutions in the country along with full autonomy. The HECI has received mixed feedback from the student and people concerned with higher education in the country.
A prominent and one of the most respected educationists of India, Anil Sadgopal feels that this will be a help to the institutions and universities failing in the US and UK where they have their funds slashed by their government’s education departments.
As for India, since its colonization, it has been a habit to see a foreign commodity always superior that Indian-made commodity. The same perception can be expected by Indians of foreign universities opening up in India. However, universities that have a decent name but are struggling will look to set their foot in a developing country. India, if the HECI bill passes, will be a huge market for them.
Conflict is seen with foreign universities
However, here the quality of higher education within the country has to be questioned. The Indian government, since the UPA government, has dreamt of foreign universities opening in India. They requested Yale and it refused openly. Indian universities have produced great alumni over the years, where they are CEOs of MNCs like Google, Microsoft and so on.
The government has always cited lack of funds when asked by the indigenous universities, so now would it be wise to promote international universities to open in India? Transfer of teachers, faculties can be seen as an interesting approach but completely allowing a foreign university to open a branch in India might just hurt the economy in the long run.
From where we are looking, foreign universities will bring in additional income, but the question is, won’t they also deprive local universities of much-needed income?
It has been concluded from previous research that the entry of foreign universities in India will definitely raise the overall standard of the education system. Every coin has two faces, so the proposed incursion of foreign universities has its own advantages as well as disadvantages.
The draft HECI 2019 is set to be taken to the Union Cabinet for approval shortly and specifically addresses the concerns red-flagged by various political parties. The word is out that the HECI bill is being reworked to gain “political consensus”. Best to consider curtailing the power of foreign universities and make monitoring mandatory.
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