By Dr Sandeep Sancheti
The next generation of youth needs to be engaged with the contemporary challenges of the world and thereby subject themselves to such an education system that is not only global in nature but also adaptive. The present and fast-evolving Indian education, especially the higher education system is thoroughly backed by the open, flexible structure and student-centric approach of the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP) which highly focuses on diversity, quality learning and innovation among many other aspects.
Internationalisation in the education domain of India is noteworthy. Ramping up efforts by institutions to make campuses diverse through cost-effective, internship-based, liberal funding-induced learning along with schemes like DASA 2022 (Direct Admission of Students Abroad), a Study In India (SII) and facilitating bodies like Educational Consultants India Ltd. (EdCIL), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) have accelerated the focus of inbound students to India.
The contribution of self-financed educational institutions that have kept the traditional educational approaches at bay and started focusing more on diversity and interdisciplinary for holistic learning is also commendable.
As a result, India has marked growth of foreign students by up to 42% in nearly the last decade. Such path-breaking efforts by the country have led to attracting more than 3 Lakh foreign students to the Indian education ecosystem.
It is because of the NEP’s clear focus on admitting foreign entries that more than 179 Universities have established offices for international affairs and 158 Universities have set up Alumni Connect Cells.
NEP is driving all-out efforts to make India a global educational centre.
“Internationalisation at Home” is the foremost strategy that has been curated to attract foreign young minds. Various capacity-building programs have been launched and meticulous efforts are being taken to integrate sessions of international faculty on a regular basis.
India is a power hub of STEM education and a structural pedagogy to promote the same. Various short-term non-degree courses on core areas like Yoga/Philosophy/Ayurveda/Sanskrit/Vastushaastra, to name a few, are also being offered in order to equip the students with additional and unconventional areas of learning.
Foreign languages are given high importance in the education culture of India. This becomes a dual opportunity for domestic as well as inbound students to learn new languages and promote the concept of multilingualism.
The governing mark of India’s higher education system — University Grant Commission (UGC) — has issued guidelines for easy admissions and supernumerary seats for international students. The regulation by UGC also demands practices such as academic collaborations with foreign universities, credit exchange, dual or joint degree programs, global immersion programs and thereby increasing the presence of foreign students in India.
Credit transfer frameworks like ABC (Academic Bank of Credit) are available for easy student mobility and academic flexibility. Courses with multiple entry-multiple exit (MEME) work as an open framework in the government’s flexible and qualitative education model while offerings like 3+1 or 2+2 are a few of the best modules for every institute to adapt when it comes to collaborations with international institutions.
The delivery of quality education is also regulated by having twinning arrangements, social cohesion or immersion programs, and cultural exchange programs which motivate the students to receive umpteen benefits from the received exposure. The leap from being a top-sending country to being an education destination for foreign students is remarkable.
SII is a flagship project by the Ministry of Education. The government of India governs initiatives to endorse India as an emerging educational destination. The scholarship opportunities and fee waivers by SII have opened the doors for thousands of international students from every corner of the world.
The Global Citizen approach adopted by higher educational institutions provides a newer dimension to the Indian education ecosystem. Such an approach delivers the notion of fulfilling the duties of global citizenship and thus inculcates the practices of implementing desirable human values and sustainable development goals (SDG).
Other than that, intellectual infrastructure supported facilitative learning along with the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). Particularly the Indian compliment with National Project on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), Virtual labs, and Digital/Virtual Universities are also being undertaken.
The provision of easy regulations for foreign institutes to mark their presence in India has begun and the entry of foreign institutes in GIFT City at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat will be a vital part of this. This is governed by special norms which assure easy entry and operations for foreign universities in India. It is not only an opportunity for the inbound students but for domestic students as well. It is learnt that several top universities are already working on it by offering a handful of programs. Although, as of now, a lack of knowledge related to some ground realities can be challenging.
To begin with, foreign institutes starting campuses in India with an already existing Indian University can be a good model. Further, the objective regarding the profit or non-profit organizations should also be understood clearly by the foreign universities before starting their initiatives in India.
India is gradually becoming a centre of research activities too. The global surge in research activities has increased to such an extent that as per UNESCO, the global expenditure has crossed $1.7 trillion. National Research Foundation (NRF) framed under NEP will look after funding, mentoring and development of high-end research.
The strong synergy established between research, academia, and industry is bound to increase and address the global yearning for research and development.
Indian institutes have already gone overseas reaching the SAARC countries, Middle-East, East Asian and European countries. This provides cost-effective delivery of quality education. In the last more than one decade, some of the prominent Indian institutions have started establishing their bases outside India and their local governments are already in conversation with IITs and IIMs to have these high-calibre international campuses on their land.
Many of the above efforts made by the Government of India boldly underline the vision to internationalize the Indian education system. With this, India is sure to strengthen its educational outreach, provide opportunities to both international and domestic students and make India a desired destination for higher education.
The author is the Provost (Vice-Chancellor) of Marwadi University.
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