The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 brought out much-awaited UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023. It opens doors to foreign higher educational institutions having secured a ranking within the top 500 worldwide to set up their campuses in India.
It marks a historic step toward the internationalization of Indian education with the introduction of these regulations. By permitting high-ranking FHEIs to set up campuses here, it is likely to bring Indian education to a higher quality level-it would have multiple benefits for students, society, and the economy.
It will be within India that globally recognized FHEIs will operate, enabling students to graduate with internationally accredited degrees without going through the huge costs involved with studying overseas. With an estimated 10 lakh Indians studying overseas in 2019-a figure expected to nearly double by 2025-this move would help ease the squeeze on many family purses and wallets. Expenditure by Indian students on foreign education is projected to cross $70 billion by 2025.
The competitive offshore campuses will introduce, which will provoke improvement in local universities because of greater pressure to modernize their infrastructure and curriculum in order to stay competitive. Therefore, increased competition will spur increased educational standards, ultimately leading to a more skilled workforce.
Internationalization may also usher in foreign students to India. In 2023, India received about 40,431 foreign students in its institutions, compared to more than 7.65 lakh Indian students studying abroad. This sort of internationalization would present the educational environment as more attractive and thus establish India as an ultimate destination for international education, especially for students from neighborhood countries.
On the positive side, offering foreign universities in India opens wide opportunities, but challenge still looms. FHEIs will have to cut through bureaucratic hurdles, accreditation processes as well as cultural integration challenges. Still, the first FHEI set precedent in establishing campus India by Deakin University with other ones like the University of Wollongong and the University of Melbourne forthcoming.
Only strong political will, such as that in the ‘Make in India’ initiative, shall be able to effectively implement the policy. This shall help make India a destination of choice for higher education in the years to come if adequate support is forthcoming.
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