New Delhi : Higher Education is getting increasingly global the world over; the opening up or foreign universities in India is quite a viable step. The Foreign Education Provider’s is intended to facilitate their entry. Now, the institutes for Higher Education are looking beyond the borders of their countries. Will the entry of foreign universities make any improvement in the quality of routine education in India? It is a crucial question.
According to UNESCO, Global Education Digest, 2012 almost 200600 students from India, highest after China go abroad for higher studies. With 744 universities and millions of students studying in them, quantity has never been a problem in India. Giving quality education, on the contrary, has always been a problem. Secondly, India needs many more colleges and universities due its large population meeting with shortages and quality education. There is no doubt that there is a huge demand for quality higher education among Indian students and foreign universities in India can surely come upto their expections. But if foreign universities come over to India to exploit student demand and make quick money, they cannot contribute to quality education. India has to be realistic about which university can deliver the goods. There are about 150 off-shore universities around the world and all are not competent enough to impart education on an international scale. We have already plenty of franchisees working in India through partnerships and collaborations. They couldn’t perform as per the expectations.
In the Indian context, there are many people who oppose foreign university admissions. Doesn’t this amount to the creation of another elite class in a country that lives on the belief that everyone is equal? The general objection to opening up foreign universities is that only low-quality universities can enter the Indian education system and make quick money by teaching substandard education. Why is Harvard Business School opening a branch in India? They believe that Boston itself as an important part of the Harvard MBA experience. We cannot expect to build Oxford or Cambridge in Noida and Gurgaon.
Every Indian has ambitions to go to the US or the UK for further education. Some foreign universities have become brands of real education. Since degrees from these universities are passports to success, they are hard to lure to India. However, the prevailing view is that studying abroad has advantages beyond education.
Living abroad enables the students to face the global challenges on strong footing. It imbibes confidence, the most potent adjunct of education. The sanest views heard so far is that we should open up to the best universities. If not possible we should upgrade our educational system and put our Own house in order to enable the system to impart innovative education.
