Further Insights - Foreign Institutes partnership with Indian Institutes

Indian Institutes Collaborating with Foreign Universities

The Foreign Education Providers Bill, a bill that seeks regulating the entry and operations of Foreign education providers in India, is likely to be placed before the Cabinet anytime now. According to the news published The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is ready with a draft of the Bill.

HRD Minister Sri Kapil Sibal argued that the government alone could not finance the educational needs of the country, and said, “There is an allocation of Rs. 85,000 crore for education in the 11th Five-Year Plan. But this is not enough. The private sector has to come. But we will have to regulate it and there will be a law for it,” he said, adding that such regulations would be done by experts and academics and “there would be no political interference at all.”

According to him 160,000 Indian students go abroad every year and spend millions of dollars besides the heavy cost to the exchequer. Sibal wondered: “A student in India may be denied admission in IIT but he gets it in MIT.” As per the Bill, Foreign education providers would be given the status of deemed universities in India. This will also permit them to grant admission and award degrees, diplomas or certificates.
The Bill also proposes to bring Foreign education providers under the administrative umbrella of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which means that the admission process and fee structure of these institutes will be regulated by the UGC. However Foreign education institutions and their branches in India would have to provide for reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), in keeping with the 93rd Constitutional Amendment Act.

My Role:
Academic collaborations promote universal and equitable access to education, and develop in students the skills, knowledge and confidence needed in this competitive world.

As the current President of “Federation of Foreign Education Consultants in India (FFECI)” one of the most important mission for me is to galvanize academic collaborations between educational institutes abroad on one hand and those in India on the other. FFECI will act as an internationally recognised support system for world class education for bridging the education divide.

We at FFECI recognise that collaborative research programs, collaborative Bachelors and Masters programs, Twinning / Transfer programs, professional development programs, distance education programs, study abroad in India programs, study tours to India and abroad and academic partnership between Foreign Universities and Indian Institutes are extremely important in meeting the ever growing education needs in India. These programs contribute to the goal of preparing students to compete in global economy and stay ahead.

We will strive to offer an efficient and cost effective means of presenting Indian Institutes to Foreign Universities through some workshops and seminars in the year 2010.

Education Facts about India:

India has the potential to play a central role in the next stage of the development of the global business.

India's higher education system is the third largest in the world, after China and the United States. India's improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India. Much of the progress in education has been credited to various private institutions. The private education market in India is estimated to be worth $40 billion in 2008 and will increase to $78 billion by 2012.

In India issues such as autonomy and accountability, the impact of technology, the growing role of markets and the privatization of higher education, the role of research and teaching, various efforts toward curriculum reform, and the massive expansion that has characterized higher education systems in most countries have all played important roles in the development of higher education.

The growth of Higher Education is India has been phenomenal but perhaps not enough. India continues to face challenges. India has the second largest post secondary student population of around 11 million, it is also estimated that the number will double in the next 10 to 12 years. India has a very large system of post secondary technical, science and engineering education which gives it one of the largest stocks of scientists, engineers and technicians in the world. Faced with a growing demand for post secondary education and the limited resources, India is looking towards the private sector and foreign universities to bridge this gap. Today the Government of India is given an opportunity to the private sector to take this initiative and to develop infrastructure in education with foreign university collaboration.

The Indian economy has been one of the stars in global economics in the recent years. It is transforming into an international powerhouse requiring India to have the best education opportunities for its citizens. Indian students are today interested in perusing degrees, diplomas and certificates offered by foreign education institutes at the Bachelors and Masters level because of the excellent career opportunities they offer. This demand is reflected by the ten of thousands of students going abroad every year for higher education.

Taking all the facts into consideration we believe that academic collaborations promote universal and equitable access to education, and develop in students the skills, knowledge and confidence needed in this competitive world.


Benefits from this collaboration

As a sequel to collaboration with Foreign Universities, Indian Institutes will be able to enrich the quality of their programs by tapping the outstanding teaching expertise and latest curricular developments available from Australian Universities. In addition this, Indian Institutes will be able to get information of the latest developments, trends and techniques available in Foreign Universities. They include:

•Establishment of research collaboration programs with world class Foreign Institutes
•Collaboration with Foreign Institutes for offering their prestigious Graduate and Post Graduate degree programs in India
•Development of twinning programs at graduate and post graduate levels with Foreign Universities to enable Indian students to transfer with credits
•Faculty exchange programs with Foreign Universities for gaining international exposure
•Opportunity for attracting Foreign students for study in India and experience its cultures
•Opportunities for developing consulting projects with Foreign Universities
•Setting of partnership programs with Foreign Institutes for assured admissions of Indian students into graduate programs offered by Universities in USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
•Opportunity for study tours and tourism