New Delhi: After several years of debate, the Union Cabinet unanimously approved a Bill that would allow foreign education providers to set up campuses in India and offer degrees.

A Bill to this effect was first introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August 1995. The new one is expected to be introduced in Parliament — it is not clear which House — and be voted into law by the monsoon session.

“This is a milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality. A larger revolution than even in the telecom sector awaits us,” said Kapil Sibal, Union minister for human resource development (MHRD).

MHRD sources say around 50 foreign universities had already evinced interest in setting up campuses in India.
In November 2009, Sibal met presidents and other representatives of Harvard, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University, among others, who were keen to set up campuses in India or have twinning arrangements with universities here.

The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations, Maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialisation) Bill will allow foreign universities to invest at least 51 per cent of the total capital expenditure needed to establish the institute in India. Such institutes will be granted deemed university status under Section 3 of the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956.

The Bill aims to regulate the entry, operation and maintenance of quality assurance and prevention of commercialisation by foreign educational institutions, besides protecting the interest of the student community from sub-standard and ‘fly by night’ operators.

“Though 100 per cent FDI is allowed in the education sector, the current legal structure in our country does not allow granting of degrees by foreign educational institutions on Indian soil,” Sibal had told this paper earlier.

In 2008, around 140 Indian institutions and 156 foreign education providers were involved in academic collaborations. Of the foreign providers, 90 have university status and 20 have college status. Other institutions are those for training or further education. The total number of collaborations was 225 and with each collaboration having more than one programme delivery, the total number so delivered is 635.

Experts say the highest number of collaborations are in management and business administration, 168 of the total of 635, or 26 per cent. The next most offered discipline for collaboration is engineering and technology/computer application/information technology, having 144 or over 22 per cent of such programmes, followed by hotel management and house keeping, with 132 or over 20 per cent.

Incidentally, these foreign collaborations are highly concentrated, in Maharashtra and Delhi, followed by Tamil Nadu.
Of the 225 existing collaborations, 83 are with educational institutions from Britain, followed by 79 from the US. Industry experts believe 53 institutions from Britain have their presence in India, followed by the US having 46 institutions, through various collaborative arrangements like twinning (exchange of expertise and students), franchisee, joint provisions and link programmes.

The Bill is aimed at not only bringing in investment in the education sector, but also draw in foreign students, besides helping check the flight of Indians to study (then work and settle) abroad.

Foreign Hope :
Will allow education providers abroad to set up campuses here, give degrees Details rules for entry, operation and monitoring by state agencies here With 160,000 Indians studying abroad, spending $4 billion a year in fees, Bill should help reverse both Provisions to guard quality and to keep out dubious operators Foreign operator to invest at least 51% of the needed capex to establish institute here Many foreign institutes may prefer twinning with Indian institutes, instead of setting up own campuses It is estimated that around 160,000 youths from India are studying abroad. If the average expenditure on fees and maintenance is assumed at $25,000 per student per year, Indian students are spending around $4 billion a year abroad.

Indian institutes, while welcoming this decision, raised a note of caution.

“There is need for quality education and we welcome this decision. However, whosoever comes here should offer the same degree and curriculum as it does elsewhere. We need to keep a watch against the quality and the level of degrees offered. So, other systems like an accreditation system need to be in place,” said Devi Singh, director, Indian Institute of Mangement, Lucknow.

Anand Sudarshan, CEO and MD,Manipal Education, welcomed the move as “a positive step which will create opportunities for world-class universities to set foot in the country and also enable Indian universities to collaborate with them. Overall, the move will increase the standard of education and reverse the flow of faculty.”

He added, though, that “it will not be that easy for foreign universities when they come into India, as things work differently in different countries. We have discovered that Manipal in India is different from Manipal in Dubai. But, overall, they could become good benchmarks for Indian universities”.

According to B B Bhattacharya, Vice Chancellor, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, Delhi, “This move might not bring any big changes in the education sector immediately. However, good universities, in the long run, could give competition to Indian universities with regard to their best practices.”

Added Anwar Ali, director of the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad: “This decision was long overdue, provided this attracts good foreign universities to India. This is similar to the liberalisation that happened in 1991.”

On competition from foreign universities, Ali said, “The existing institutes need to tighten their belts and improve the quality of education to be able to compete with the universities who come here. It is good for students, as they don’t have to go abroad and they can admission at a lower cost. However, we need a strong filtering mechanism to ensure that good universities come here.”

Incidentally, Yale University, which already has a presence through its Yale-India initiative, does not intend to set up a campus in India despite the Bill.

“The decision is good for those who plan to launch degree programmes or set up campuses in India. However, at Yale, our objective is collaboration and partnerships with institutes here, rather than setting up a campus and the clearing of this bill will not change our decision,” said George Joseph, assistant secretary, Yale University.