Most Affordable IAS Coaching in India  

24 Jan 2023 : The Hindu Editorial Analysis

Editorial 1: An India chapter for foreign universities

Context:

  • For a long time, proponents of the internationalisation of higher education have cherished the dream of foreign universities operating in India. For nearly two decades, they have emphasised the need to provide conducive conditions and an enabling framework for such institutions. But the idea failed to come to fruition due to the concerns of the regulatory authorities and governments in India as well as the foreign higher educational institutions.

 

Concerns

  • Some of the major concerns of foreign universities operating in India are issues regarding—
  1. Promoting excellence
  2. Preventing malpractices
  3. Safeguarding the interests of students
  4. Protecting national interests
  5. Clash of cultures etc

 

  • Many were wary of the cultural threat that this initiative posed. Some of those who were at the forefront of preserving the purity of Indian culture are now a part of the political dispensation. Policy planners and regulators have been particularly concerned about how to come up with a framework that attracts the best of the best and deters the fly-by-night kinds of universities.
  • On the other hand, the sought-after universities are concerned about the potential adverse effect of setting up offshore campuses with their accreditation, ranking and reputation. Truly reputed higher educational institutions operate on a not-for-profit basis and have no materialistic motives to go offshore.
  • A few countries that have such offshore campuses had to hard-sell the institutions the idea by leasing land at almost no cost, bearing the bulk of infrastructure cost and promising them the academic, administrative and financial autonomy that they enjoy in their home country. India could hardly afford any such incentives. Whatever was offered was riddled with caveats and contradictions.

 

Provisions under new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 :

  • Past setbacks notwithstanding, the idea of having world-class universities establish and operate their campuses in India has been so compelling that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 provided that “selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India. A legislative framework facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.”
  • Even though the NEP favoured a “legislative framework”, the idea is being executed through a regulatory route by the University Grants Commission (UGC). There seems to be determination to get the idea going, even if it amounts to some dilution in standards.
  • While the policy prescribed “facilitation” and “special dispensation” for the top 100 universities of the world, the draft regulation seeks to lower the standards by extending the scope to the top 500 universities, overall or in any discipline.
  • Further, for the “educational institutions”, just being “reputed” in their home country would be a sufficient requirement. The draft regulation doesn’t seem concerned about the subjectivity and scope of discretion in the above articulation as it believes that the standing committee constituted by the UGC would do an unbiased and thorough job in processing the applications and identifying only the best institutions.

 

Contradictions:

  • The initiative may still fail due to contradictions in the regulation. The draft regulation demands that the quality of education imparted by these institutions in India must be on a par with the quality of courses at their campus in the country of origin. Yet, it insists that they must not “offer any such programme of study which jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India”.
  • It promises academic, administrative and financial autonomy to foreign institutions but takes that away by asserting that they abide by all the conditions that the UGC and the Indian government prescribe from time to time.
  • The provision that the foreign higher education institutions must not do anything “contrary to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality” might deter the best universities that most value their academic autonomy.

 

Stopping forex outflow due to Indian students studying abroad:

  • Leaving aside the issue of whether the idea would succeed, one wonders why India is so keen on foreign higher education. During a media briefing, it was stated that foreign universities in India would stop the outflow of $28-30 billion in foreign exchange.
  • This does not corroborate the data on outward remittances for studies abroad, as reported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). During 2021-22, foreign outflow on account of studies abroad was no more than $5.165 billion.
  • One could argue that even this is a substantive sum and must be stopped from flowing abroad, but the idea of import substitution in higher education is complicated. Students do not go abroad for degrees alone; they also go for the experience, post-study work visas, income opportunities and better career prospects. Studying in a foreign university in India would offer them none of these. Most critically, as they are able to finance a good part of their education abroad through jobs, assistantships and scholarships, they find it more economical.

 

Conclusion:

  • Still, India needs to have an enabling framework for the entry and operation of foreign higher educational institutions. It must, however, ensure that the best of the best set up their campuses in the country.

Editorial 2 : It’s time for India’s universities to join the world

Context:

  • With India assuming the G20 presidency, it is now time for it to join the world’s academic community as a major player. Indians are well-known globally as top scientists and academics, university leaders, and key leaders in high tech, but little is known about the academic environment from which they have emerged.

 

Indian academic system:

  • India’s academic system is now the world’s second largest. And, as articulated in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the country is actively pursuing reform and improvement.
  • Opening to the world means making India more visible on the global academic scene and also learning about, and implementing, best practices from abroad. The G20 leadership is an excellent opportunity to do both.
  • One of the priority areas in education during India’s G20 presidency is ‘Strengthening Research and Promoting Innovation through Richer Collaboration’. India is in a particularly advantageous position — the world sees India as an increasingly important economy and geopolitical player.
  • India also plays an important role in higher education — mainly as an exporter of students and talent in many scientific fields — and especially in information technology and related fields. There is a growing interest abroad in linking with Indian universities and research institutes, not only because of untapped talent but also due to disengagement from China by some Western countries.

 

Unknown, complex system

  • India is not only the world’s second largest academic system, but also one of the world’s most complex and little understood academic environments. Its higher education sector is fragmented, inflexible with tight subject boundaries, and of uneven quality.
  • The NEP’s focus is on consolidation, with the goal of bringing flexibility and multi-disciplinary education and improving quality. While private sector colleges and universities will continue to fuel growth, high-quality government institutions such as the IITs and AIIMS are also expanding and improving, and will likely achieve good results if they are adequately funded and permitted to have appropriate autonomy.
  • India has set up the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which has helped fuel competition among institutions. India’s global ranking in scientific publications improved from the seventh position in 2010 to the third in 2020.

National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)

  • It was launched by the Ministry for Human Resource Development  (MHRD) [now Ministry of Education (MoE)] in 2015. This framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
  • The methodology draws from the overall recommendations, broad understanding arrived at by a Core Committee set up by MHRD, to identify the broad parameters for ranking various universities and institutions. 
  • NIRF ranking is based on six parameters — Teaching-learning and resources, Research and professional practice, Graduation outcomes, Outreach and inclusivity and Perception about the institution.

 

  • India ranks third in terms of the number of PhDs awarded in science and engineering. India’s Global Innovation Index ranking has also improved significantly, from 81 in 2014 to 40 in 2022, although it lags significantly behind the U.S. and China.

 

  • Global Innovation Index (GII) project was launched by INSEAD and WIPO in 2007. Its goal is to o find and determine metrics and methods that could capture a picture of innovation in society that is as complete as possible.
  • Criteria to measure innovation by GII covers institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, credit, investment, linkages, creation, absorption and diffusion of knowledge, and creative outputs.
  • Three measures are calculated: Innovation Input Sub-Index and Innovation Output Sub-Index. The overall GII score is the average of the two on which the GII economy rankings are then produced.

 

  • Indian universities have not scored well in the global rankings. The highest-scoring Indian institution in the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) ranking is the Indian Institute of Science, in the 251-300 range. Another 75 institutions are ranked lower.
  • The best-known institutions globally are the IITs. These do not rank well because they are small, specialised schools and not comprehensive universities, but their quality is much better than their ranking scores. The recent announcement that IIT-Kharagpur will establish a branch campus in Malaysia will help.
  • For India to catch up, both in the rankings and in reality, will take significant investment over a sustained period of time. In comparison, China over decades has invested billions of dollars to improve its top universities — and this shows in the rankings and in measures of scientific output.

 

Distinctiveness

  • There are elements of India’s academic environment that are distinctive and worth highlighting to an international audience. These include the emergence of about a dozen top-quality non-profit private universities, mostly funded by philanthropically minded Indians. This elite sector is expanding and is focused on building an international ‘brand’ for Indian higher education.
  • India uses English as the main language of science and higher education, which makes it much easier to interact with the rest of the world. India has more than 100 research laboratories in diverse areas sponsored by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and other Central government agencies. Some are outstanding in terms of their research contributions and their relationships with India’s economy.

 

Exercising leadership

  • India’s universities and its scientific prowess are an important part of a soft power strategy. The internationalisation initiatives outlined in the NEP is an important start. India’s G20 leadership is also an excellent opportunity to exercise leadership. Two interesting initiatives have been suggested.
  • One is a conference in India of leaders of universities in the G20 countries with the aim of acquainting them with India’s academic opportunities. Another is the creation of a prestigious scholarship programme, similar to the Fulbright programme, that would provide top Indian students and faculty time in leading universities abroad and funding to bring top academic from abroad to India. China’s version of this is the China Scholarship Council.

 

Conclusion:

  • Indian universities, researchers, and academics also need to involve themselves in the global scientific community through participation in joint projects, international meetings, and the like. All this will take careful planning, sustained resources, support from the Central and State governments and an expanded international consciousness in the Indian academic community.