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Context
- Recent agreement on “mutual recognition of educational qualifications” between India and France
- It provides an opportunity for India to refine its policy on higher education by inking such pacts with other countries, thereby seamlessly integrating the Indian student community across the world
Current policy framework: Problem of Degree Recognition
- Dealt on a case-by-case basis: The issue of recognition of academic qualifications is dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), which provides Indian students with equivalence certificates based on eligibility requirements and the duration of courses
- Condition to pursue PhD or JRF-NET
In the current system, if a person has a postgraduate degree from abroad, an equivalence certificate is essential to pursue a PhD or qualify for a career in academia through the Junior Research Fellowship-National Eligibility Test (JRF-NET)
- 1 year degree holders are ousted from Indian system
Returnee students from foreign universities need to apply for equivalence certificates, but students who hold one-year degrees from abroad are immediately ousted from the Indian system
Current framework supporting brain drain
This ad hoc arrangement for recognition of degrees has discouraged students from pursuing research careers in India. Rather, it precipitates their departure to other global destinations.
With UK
- The earlier provision of a six-month bridge course introduced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2013 to ensure recognition of one-year master’s degrees from the U.K. has been discontinued by the current government
- It’s not just the MA degree, the two-year MPhil courses from some of the best universities are also not recognised as equivalent to even a lower-level master’s degree in India, if the student does not possess a two-year master’s degree before the MPhil
- This is despite the fact that some of these degrees have been partially or fully supported by the Indian government with a condition to revert and contribute to their home country.
Conclusion
The aim of establishing “world-class” institutions in India cannot materialise without first utilising the knowledge and expertise that their own Indian scholars have to offer.
