[Answered] The establishment of foreign university branch campuses in India would be beneficial, it is worthwhile to look at the experience of other countries for both positive and negative lessons. Examine the statement.

Centre in its Union Budget announced that world-class foreign universities will be allowed to offer courses in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics etc. This announcement follows the National Educational Policy 2020.  This step is relevant as the number of Indian students opting for higher education overseas grows annually and their abroad spending is set to grow from current annual $28 billion to $80 billion by 2024.

Benefits:

• Encourage competition: The establishment of foreign university branch campuses would encourage competition mainly between existing private universities and foreign branch institutions.
• Promotes new ideas: Branch campuses could bring much needed new ideas about curriculum, pedagogy, and governance to Indian higher education.
• Opportunity to learn business: Foreign countries and universities will be providing opportunities for home campus students to learn about Indian business, society, and culture to participate in growing trade and other relations.
• Skill generation: Branch campuses would be helpful in addressing skill requirements and providing examples of different approaches to higher education.
• Ease in policy implementation: After examining national experiences elsewhere, clear policies can be implemented that may be attractive to foreign universities.
• International branch campuses can also help in reducing the foreign exchange outflow. Subsequently, it will help retain the best of Indian talent by controlling the problem of brain drain.

Concerns:

• It will not be easy to attract foreign universities to India and even more difficult to create the conditions for them to flourish.
• Many of these top universities are already fully engaged overseas and would likely require incentives to set up in India.
• There is also an issue of dilution of standards of teaching and delivery in a foreign campus. There is a lot of investment in training local staff to adhere to standards and without a strong legal and financial structure it becomes a risky plan.
• A big challenge will be India’s “well-known” bureaucracy, especially the multiple regulators.

Education can be an important source of soft power if it is pursued in the right direction. Lessons can be learnt from our Yoga culture which has gained tremendous recognition worldwide. The need of the hour is to prevent profit-seekers from entering the Indian market and to encourage foreign institutions with innovative educational ideas and a long-term commitment.