Australia’s Deakin to set up campus in India; Will Oxford follow?

Australia’s Deakin University has become the first foreign university to have set up its campus in India.

This is one of the two Universities (Deakin University and Wollongong University) which have high global rankings and have got clearance to establish a university campus in India.

Both are going to come up in the state of Gujarat in the Gift City.

Former cricketer Adam Gilchrist global ambassador of Wollongong University has helped in the establishment of the Universities.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the government of India was interested in partnering with Australia to provide quality education to students which is affordable and accessible.

Pradhan stressed the point that as one of the key strategies of Australia is education, knowledge, skill development and vocational training, India, being a young nation, would like to collaborate with Australia.

The debate on allowing renowned foreign universities to set up campuses in India has been going on for a long time.

However, now that the UGC has formed draft guidelines for foreign universities in India it may not be surprising if in the days to come following Deakin and Wollongong, we may have the campuses of Oxford University in Delhi, Yale in Mumbai and National University of Singapore in Chennai.

The move made by the Australian universities must make us confident to say that the move to allow foreign universities having their campuses in India is a move clearly in the right direction as it will provide an opportunity for a large number of students to get a degree from a prestigious university while studying in the country itself.

The qualification will boost their career prospects.

Degree from these international institutions is valued much more than degrees from Indian institutions and gives the opportunity to students to strive for higher posts in companies.

The Australian universities which have established themselves here had been earlier advertising for enrolling Indian students in their Universities in Australia for many years now and have a sizeable population of Indian students studying there.

Affordability could still be a matter of concern for some because UGC is not going to decide the fee structure of foreign universities.

One must realise that studying in a foreign university is today talked in terms of lakhs, even though in India to study in universities here may still be in thousands. While giving them freedom to decide on fee structure UGC has pertinently said that it has to be “reasonable and transparent”

The advantage of multi-cultural set up and cosmopolitan environment on the campus may still be there because these universities would draw many students from neighbouring countries.

The flexibility of the courses which allows the students to choose their own course based on their interests as even some universities in India are trying out today would be another advantage. This feature adds to the employability of the student.

 What is hoped for is that these universities will bring in internationally renowned scholars or faculty.

As these Universities are known to give students lot of scholarship opportunities and financial aid to meritorious students, it is also hoped that those who find the fee structure very high may attempt to get scholarships.

With these international universities will come another advantage that of access to leaders in the field of academia, government and industry as their entire alumni is virtually spread all over the world in many high-ranking positions.

The UGC has been very careful in their guidelines to stress that the foreign varsities must ensure quality of education imparted at their Indian campuses is on par with their main campus in their own country.

The fact that approval granted to foreign varsities will not be final and will be renewed depending on their meeting conditions set by UGC shows clearly that Indian government is not relinquishing its overall control.

 The draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’ has rightly said that the universities will have freedom to devise their own admission process.

However, the universities have been debarred from offering online or distant learning programme as it would nullify the whole purpose of setting up a campus here. The idea for a prestigious international university to set up a campus here is so that students need not travel abroad to study.

Besides giving an “international dimension” to higher education, it would enable Indian students to obtain foreign qualifications at affordable cost and make India an attractive global study destination.

The UGC guidelines are making it clear that the foreign university wanting to enter India must have secured a position within the top 500 of overall / subject-wise global rankings, clearly to stop all the run of the mill universities attempting to take entry.

It should be a reputed institution in its home.

The UGC has also stressed on the provision of full or partial need-based scholarships.

Neither has UGC insisted that the faculty and staff have to be from India. The universities shall have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff from India and abroad as per its recruitment norms.

Interestingly UGC says that the foreign faculty appointed to teach at the Indian campus shall stay at the campus in India for a reasonable period.

One of the binding clause which UGC has rightfully put is that the Universities have to ensure that the quality of education imparted by it in its Indian campus is at par with that of the main campus in the country of origin, and that the qualifications awarded to the students in the Indian campus shall be recognised and treated as equivalent to the corresponding qualifications awarded in the main campus located in the country of origin.

So that once one gets a degree from the college for example Deakin University in Gujarat, it  would mean the same thing as if  one got a degree from  Deakin University , Australia.

There would be no seeking equivalence from any authority.

The University according to rules shall not offer any such programme of study which “jeopardises” the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India, the UGC has stressed.

It will also not undertake promotional activities for academic programmes in their country of origin.

To maintain quality the UGC has also asked the Universities to undergo a quality assurance audit and submit the report to the Commission at the time of an extension.

To stop any fly by night institutions it has stipulated that the foreign University will not discontinue any course or programme or close the campus without UGC’s prior approval.

Thus, the overall control would be of the government of India’s body the University Grants Commission for monitoring the working of the foreign universities and any violations made by them. It would also award penalties under law if required. 

The question now remains whether besides these two Australian universities other internationally renowned universities will take up the offer and be ready to invest in India knowing full well that India produces the best of brains and has a strong academic tradition going back to the University of Nalanda, considered to be the world’s first residential University near Patna, one of greatest centres of learning in the ancient world where students from outside India also came to study ages ago.