A Coalition Of Indian Institutes With International Bodies

India has always been a land of knowledge. Even in the present, India’s higher education system is the third-largest in the world, after USA and China. Nonetheless, our universities and colleges do still have some distance to cover in order to be compatible with international standards, and we are constantly working towards bridging that gap. Unlike the past, many contemporary universities and institutions in India are now designing and executing courses that can be beneficial to students aspiring for world-class higher education.

To bolster this new wave, The NEP 2020 released by the Government of India aims to undertake various measures which will help make India “a global knowledge superpower” in the next ten years. This will entail several programmes where Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will incorporate methods which will create faculties and facilities that are globally competent. The NEP 2020 has a three-pronged approach to “internationalization”, and will focus equally on making India HEIs more internationally compliant, boosting trans-global alliances, and also encouraging the outflow of Indian students going abroad. This approach looks to eventually make India an educational hub in the global scenario. 

In order to make Indian HEIs internationally compliant, the Government is currently focusing on creating and training educationists who can envision and provide such courses and syllabi. The upcoming courses which are being created are going to be attuned to modern pedagogies. This will also emphasize on digital dissemination and will work on attracting foreign students to Indian institutions. To enable this, the NEP 2020 suggests that International Students Offices be set up at each institution hosting foreign students. Furthermore, the courses and institutions should be such that India is projected as a premium education destination with affordable tuition fees for all.  

In addition to the above, the NEP 2020 also discusses the possibility of Indian Universities setting up campuses in other countries. This will be a novel and bold step for any Indian institution, as it will greatly promote India as a global education hub. It will also ensure that Indian universities stay updated with international standards while keeping abreast of the current trends in global education. Not only that, it will make it easier for Indian students to visit other countries if they are already students of the home institution. Such novel measures will definitely prove beneficial to the progress of our nation and its economical, social and political developments. 

Similarly, HEIs will be engaged to be in dialogues and escalate tie-ups with foreign institutes. For this, courses may be taught on online platforms or students could be encouraged to spend a semester at partner institutions. Funds and scholarships could also be encouraged for this purpose. A coalition of Indian HEIs with international universities and institutions will encourage more students to seek world-class education and, in turn, look for career prospects in the global market as opposed to just in their native countries. With the world becoming smaller and more culturally intimate, this may prove beneficial in the overall relations of several countries in the long run.  

The Government seeks to make quality education even easier by allowing top universities to operate in India, perhaps in alliance with Indian universities. This will ensure that foreign students also visit India to learn not just about their subject of choice, but also about the culture, heritage and traditions of our vibrant society. We have always been very welcoming of our guests and this inflow will help in maintaining the standards of our education system. We can hope that it might even encourage a reverse “brain-drain”. It is believed that only about a per cent of educated Indians go abroad to study, so making international education more accessible will vastly help the 99% that cannot afford to leave their motherland. 

To further strengthen the internationalization of education, HEIs will also be encouraged to actively engage with Research and Development with foreign collaborators. Indian researchers and developers are already some on the best in the world, and having foreign coalitions will help highlight the competence of such people. Moreover, with the help of various international education bodies, India can aspire to become a standard to reckon with and Indian students can unlock previously untapped potentials. 

Dr Niranjan Hiranandani

Guest Author The author is Provost of HSNC (Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate) University "Sincerity and commitment to consistent efforts is the recipe to achieve success and great heights." This quote very aptly sums up Dr Niranjan Hiranandani’s ‘Magic Mantra’. Best known as a visionary and Industry think-tank; achieved another milestone in his professional life - his thesis on real estate has resulted in the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management conferred on him. He recently had sworn in as National President for NAREDCO. A business leader with the desire to rewrite India’s real estate story, Niranjan Hiranandani is arguably, India’s ‘builder extraordinaire’, the person credited with changing Mumbai’s skyline. A qualified Chartered Accountant, he has virtually revolutionized the real estate industry in the country.