With India’s large, and increasing, population, there is good profit to be made in the higher education sector. The Indian state has welcomed a profit-facing expansion as well, which has resulted in this space taking on an increasingly free market character, with low barriers to entry. A reaffirmation of this commitment to profit-facing growth comes through the recent announcement by the University Grants Commission [UGC] regarding the draft UGC (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, which are to be adopted in May of 2023. These regulations would allow for Foreign Higher Education Institutions [FHEI] to set up campuses in India, with the goal of conferring degrees, diplomas and other programs similar to those in the origin country of the universities.
https://livewire.thewire.in/politics/the-import-of-foreign-higher-education/
While the government has cited reasons such as quality education and wider choices as a rationale for the move, the question remains- how will setting up FHEI campuses address the structural challenges prevalent within the system of higher education in India?
While there is a good case to be made for the availability of a diverse set of HE choices, concerns arise when the diversity is unable to improve educational outcomes and access to quality education for the country as a whole.
In the last 7 years, the number of private universities in India has almost doubled, while failing to deliver on lofty promises of quality teaching and placements.
the move to invite FHEIs for domestic campuses, in the grand scheme of things, remains just that- another way of liberalising an already market-friendly and profit-oriented sector, with very little accountability towards reaching meaningful goals in higher education. While there is nothing objectively wrong with the profit motive in higher education, the profit motive in the Indian HE space has remained unconditional, without any meaningful large-scale gains in quality and impact.
05/06/2023