UGC to announce Guidelines for setting up Foreign Universities

Context- In the first week of May, the draft regulations for the University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operating Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) will be approved.

Key Highlights 

• The draft got reactions from a few unfamiliar colleges and consulates and the UGC was in the last phase of solidifying the ideas. 
• Additionally the UGC would counsel the Reserve Bank of India and would take legitimate assessment before the declaration of the rules.
• The majority of the suggestions came from universities in North America and Europe.

What are the proposed Guidelines of UGC?

• Sets Standards:

• • • To establish a campus in India, a foreign university that is ranked among the top 500 worldwide or a reputable educational institution in its home country may submit an application to the UGC.

• Application Methodology:

• • • After reviewing the institution’s credibility, the programs it offers, and their potential, a standing committee that has been appointed by the UGC will take the application into consideration and submit its recommendations within 45 days.
    • After that, the UGC may grant preliminary approval to the foreign institution to establish campuses in India within two years within 45 days.
    • The initial approval can be extended for an additional ten years.

• Method of Instructing:

• • • It will also be able to hire faculty and staff from India and other countries on its own.
    • The courses that are going to be offered cannot be open and available online.
    • The credentials granted to Indian students ought to be comparable to those granted by their home countries’ educational establishments.
    • Any program of study that jeopardizes India’s national interest or the standards of higher education in India cannot be offered by these universities and colleges.

• Management of funds:

• • Funds from foreign universities can be returned to parent campuses.
  • The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) of 1999 and its Rules will govern the method of payments, remittance, repatriation, and sale of any proceeds from the cross-border movement of funds.
  • Additionally, it will not be subject to any caps imposed on Indian institutions and will have complete control over its fee structure. The fee ought to be “reasonable and clear.

Significances 

• According to data from the Ministry of External Affairs, nearly 13 lakh students were studying abroad in 2022.
• Allowing foreign universities to establish campuses in India will also guarantee that all of our students—around 40 million of whom are pursuing higher education—have access to high-quality education from around the world, according to the RBI.
• The ideal of setting up unfamiliar colleges’ grounds in India is additionally referenced in the Public Schooling Strategy (NEP) 2020.
• The NEP says that the main 100 colleges on the planet will be worked with to work in India through a regulative system.
• In a way, the released regulations only aim to put the NEP’s vision into practice.
• India will soon be a top education destination worldwide thanks to this move.
• It will assist in both attracting international students to India and preventing the brain drain and currency loss caused by Indian students studying abroad.
• It will facilitate faculty-to-faculty research collaboration among various universities and foster competition among various players in the nation.
• In nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Indian students rank second in the number of foreign students.

Challenges 

• Where higher education is a highly effective tool for social change, it is believed that social justice concerns have been ignored.
• Draft guidelines have no arrangements for station based/financial based/minority-based/military based/Divyang-based/Kashmiri travelers/portrayal based/ladies reservation in understudy affirmations.
• Because it would increase the cost of education and make it out of reach for a large portion of the population, some educational practitioners have expressed reservations about allowing international universities to operate in India.
• Funds can now be returned to the parent institution abroad, which was previously forbidden.
• There’s likewise no necessity for unfamiliar schooling suppliers to keep a corpus asset to work in India.

Way Forward 

• If the Indian higher education sector truly opens up, it will be one step closer to India’s goal of becoming a Vishwa-guru, if not a knowledge society, once more.
• A genuine Indian renaissance will be ushered in by competition and collaboration with the best, not protectionism and closing our intellectual borders.

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