The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims at promoting India as a global study destination by making quality education accessible at an affordable cost. It is presumed that through a number of such quality initiatives, India will be able to restore its role as a ‘Vishwa Guru’. It has recommended a two-pronged approach to giving a fillip to higher education. One by facilitating the entry of top class Foreign Educational Institutions (FEIs) in India, and another by encouraging high-performing Indian institutions to set up campuses in foreign countries.
Cross-border education, which refers to movement of personnel and educational services across the national borders, has been the centuries-old culture and tradition. It can even be traced back to the colonial period. But it became more prominent during the 19th century when American institutions of higher learning made a beginning by establishing their branch campuses in the Middle East and some adjoining places. Their proliferation became a global phenomenon with the passage of time and more so during the 20th century. It is believed that there are over 400 campuses of foreign institutions which are both successfully and unsuccessfully in operation in other countries using different modes of delivery system including the current passing fad that is not likely to last.
The subject of entry of FEIs in the country is not new. This process had reached a very advanced stage in the early nineties. But somehow it could not reach its logical conclusion because of the sudden replacement of the key players from the Indian side. It lost momentum for nearly a decade before it sprang out of the closet of the Shastri Bhawan in 2004. The issue was extensively debated twice by the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) in 2004 and 2005 before arriving at a consensus to move forward to invite top-ranking FEIs in India. The decision of the CABE was subsequently endorsed by the C.N.R. Rao Committee in 2005 as well as by the National Knowledge Commission in 2008 and the Yashpal Committee in 2009. By taking cue from these endorsements, the FEI Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2010. However, the Bill could not be passed due to some reservations from certain quarters. Though this issue has remained unresolved for over two-and-a-half decades, it did not mislay its significance with the successive governments. It has stayed as much alive since 2014 as during the previous regimes, with no results. Once again, it has been set in motion through a prominent recommendation in the NEP 2020.
It may not be appropriate to have a narrow or myopic view that with the entry of FEIs, the country would be saving billions of dollars and that our institutions would be able to observe their system at close quarters. If we want to emulate their system in terms of curriculum, lectures and pedagogical processes, these can be easily followed as all these are available in the public domain. But the core question is when we bring FEIs to India, what value would they add to Indian education system? Perhaps, we need them as their products are found to be far superior than ours when it comes to application of not just the knowledge of the subject but application of analytical skills which is the most critical ability to be successful in any profession.
While UNESCO tried to develop the guidelines for quality provisions in cross-border higher education during its 33rd General Conference in 2005, still there are different protocols prevalent in different countries. China has a large presence of FEIs but it encourages the partnership mode. Malaysia has brought out a legislation which provides for the entry of only home-accredited FEIs and that too only through invitation. Since 2009 Singapore has had a Private Education Act, which provides for permission on a case-to-case basis. Indonesia allows home-accredited FEIs after carrying out their academic audit by the office of the Director General of higher education. Australia follows its national protocol and accreditation as per local standards. In fact, there are about seven prominent models which are widespread in different parts of the world.
India had suggested four conditions for cross-border higher education whilst presenting its stand in the UNESCO General Conference in 2005. First, the accredited FEIs should be allowed to offer only those programmes in a foreign country which they offer in their homeland. Second, they should be subjected to similar sanctions as applicable to domestic institutions. Third, their fees should be determined within the regulatory framework presented by the host country and fourth, there should be mutual recognition and reciprocity.
Since many years have gone by when we prepared a legislative proposal, a fresh exercise needs to be undertaken after identifying the objectives of pillars of collaboration from Indian perspectives. Now, it necessitates seeking answers to some pertinent questions due to proposed fundamental shifts in the policy. For example, what are the deficit cognate subjects in which we need FEIs? How would FEIs ensure inclusive growth of higher education in the country? How would FEIs make Indian students ready for the real world scenario? How would FEIs help make Indian educators ready to basically propel the rest of the education system? How would the FEIs help develop the research capacity of Indian universities? And, how are the FEIs going to transfer the culture of their main campus to Indian campus?
One might be even more anxious to raise some other germane questions that relate to the issue at hand. For example, what would be the right motivation for the top 100 FEIs to come to India? Where would they be bringing their faculty from? What is the new form of learning that the Indian universities will get from these FEIs? What additional values would the FEIs provide to Indian students and at what cost? And, what is that the Indian institutions would like to emulate from the system of FEIs which is not being followed by them?
It may be naïve to presume that the top-ranking FEIs would come to India because they would have access to an underserved market. That cannot be the sole reason for an institution of international repute. It would be really strange if they had that motivation to come to India. Money cannot and should not be the only motivation for an institution of international standing. If someone comes for money, then the day money gets dried up he would pack up his stuff and go away. It would not be easy for the FEIs to set up their own campus and nurture it by flying professors from their own homeland. That would neither be a sustainable model for them nor would it be advantageous to us as it would not grow the education capacity of our country. Their passion to carry out research in an extraterrestrial ambience and crave to develop a pool of future scientists with nominal outflow might motivate them to collaborate with some of our leading institutions.
It is not merely the degree of the FEIs that we should look up for. We should be looking for similar kinds of academic and extracurricular exposure to our students that these FEIs do provide in their homeland. It would be possible only when Indian students would be taking some of their semesters in the main campus of the FEIs. Indian students should potentially do internships in the homeland of the partnering FEIs, for the practical aspect of training is a big hole in the Indian system and that needs to be fixed. Otherwise, the FEIs will suck all the money and will essentially give our students the same type of education which could be available to them on any other campus in India.
Another big question which requires a thoughtful consideration is how to run a successful university which caters to the market on one hand and explore new knowledge on the other. There is a clear cut distinction between the way our institutions operate and the FEIs operate. Unlike Indian institutions, FEIs are constantly in the process of re-inventing themselves at rapid progression to support their students to be successful in the competitive world. They always think ahead of time and that they do very successfully. Our institutions need to learn this art and scale such educators who can efficiently manage the long chain that we have painstakingly created.
As a country, we should also focus on figuring how we do scale our educators. If we continue to rely on foreign educators we will not be able to scale educators in India which we need in large numbers. Our faculty members might benefit more only when they offer programmes and conduct research in collaboration with the faculty of the FEIs. That arrangement would surely create a vibrant academic ambience and competition on our campuses. It would not only enhance the research capacity of our institutions but also promote entrepreneurship amongst our students and prepare them for challenges of life.
Lastly, we need to learn from the global experience which shows that none of the leading universities has ever been successful in transferring the culture of its main campus to its branch-campus. It hardly needs any mention that the interest of the country can be served better if the top-ranking FEIs are invited to partner with our premier institutions of higher learning rather than having their independent branch-campuses. The bottom line is that India should seriously strategise for reciprocal obligation and a perfect mutualism, each giving the other that is required.
The writer is former Chairman, UGC. The views expressed are personal.