Foreign University in India is not the Solution
The Indian cabinet today approved the proposal to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India. The Minister of Human Resources and Development Kapil Sibal said that “This is a milestone which will enhance choices, increase competition and benchmark quality in education”. Foreign investment in education is something that India has allowed for a long time (more than 100 foreign educational institutions offer programs in India). But this is the first time a foreign university will be allowed to issue a degree in India.
The government has to provide additional details on the bill (Foreign Education Providers Regulatory Bill) before it can be put to vote in the Indian parliament next month. The key issue is whether the foreign universities will be asked to admit students based on the reservation system. It is very unlikely that these universities will be exempt. Will these institutions have to subsidize the tuition fees as all other universities in India do? The answers to these two key issues will make or break the bill.
This bill clearly is an admission by the government of India that it has failed in its mission to provide high quality education to its citizens. It is also an acknowledgement that many students who graduate from educational institutions in India do not meet the standards of the 21st century knowledge based economy (I want to point out that there are exceptions and there are great universities in India in almost any field. But they are small in number).
If these universities are exempt from reservation and tuition fee subsidies by the Indian government then it would be seen as an attempt by the government to rectify some of the negative impacts of an education system that is not currently based on merit. Over the past sixty years our educational system has churned out millions of graduates with emphasis on their religion, caste, or gender but not based on their merit. This has taken a heavy toll on the overall quality.
There are about 160,000 Indian students who go abroad to study. Many of them are clearly some of the best and brightest that India can produce. Irrespective of what some of us think these students are hard to replace. This brain drain has to be stopped. But will the new bill be able to make a dent on the brain drain? In my opinion the march study abroad will continue because the government does not understand the primary reasons why students go abroad.
There is tremendous freedom and independence within the educational system in the West. You can choose the course work you want, take classes you want when you want (I always took night classes. It gave me the opportunity to socialize with my classmates and teachers. It was common for the teachers, professors and students to share a few drinks before heading home).
In many cases the “class” never meets. The teachers at the beginning of the semester provide a broad description of the coursework and it is the responsibility of the students to cover everything. The students are graded periodically through written and oral tests and surprise “quiz”.
It can be a challenging experience for a student from India because we come from a rigid system but it can be a fun and learning experience as well. Most graduate students will also have teaching or research scholarships which meant that we have to teach and grade undergraduate students or help out the professor on research projects. For the most part I had to teach undergraduate students intermediate mathematics courses. It was a humbling experience to say the least.
Many students who go abroad also do so for the cultural experience. Foreign universities in India will not be able to duplicate this environment. There is something to be said about studying with students from all over the world. Many of our misconceptions about others will be quickly wiped away when you spend some time getting to know them.
But the single most important reason why some of us go abroad to study or work is because we want to compete with the best. If you think that you are a good cricketer then are you satisfied just playing for your school or do you want to play for India? During our fathers and grandfathers time the best was England and that is the key reason why many of our founding fathers including Mahatma Gandhi went to England to study and work. Today we go to the United States of America, Canada or Australia for the very same reasons.
Instead of bringing the foreign schools to India we should see how we can improve our society and the educational system so that it is attractive to very smart engineers, doctors and other professionals who currently want to leave India. Our goal should become a nation where people from all over the world want to come and educate themselves. If we succeed in doing it then we would have solved a big riddle.
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Category: News & Government
I think it is good…it will be an impetus for our places of learning to change old-fashioned teaching methods…nothing like a little competition!
Definitely there are some positives and competition is among them. But I am not sure if it will stop the brain drain.