The Foreign Educational Institutions Bill - Gauri Puranik

• 2007 – A Bill that would allow foreign universities to enter India meets with a deadlock after issues related to caste-based reservations, investor expectations and legal issues
• 2008 -  The proposed Bill is stalled once again after divided views on the process of training, regulation on admission and the fee structure for deemed universities
• June 2009- A Government Panel recommends that only top 200 universities should be allowed entry in India
• July 2009 – HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, voices his intention of clearing the Bill after careful contemplation and consensus
• September 2009 – Universities from US, UK, Australia and Canada express their eagerness to set up campus in India in the wake of educational reforms in the sector
• Jan 2010 - India and UK sign five Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), for key deals in higher education

This has been the journey of the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, before it was introduced by the HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on 16 Feb 2010. If implemented, the Bill will allow foreign universities to set up their campus on Indian soil. As per the Bill, the foreign universities shall enjoy complete freedom in their admission and selection process and do not have to reserve seats for SC/ST/OBC students. They will also have the liberty to determine their fee structure. The universities will have to deposit a corpus of Rs.50 crore with the registering body, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and will have to retain all profits from educational activities in India itself. The clearance of the Bill has met with mixed reaction.  

There has been a significant growth in India’s higher education institutions in the last decade. The number of institutes offering higher education and professional courses and student enrollment has doubled since the 1990s. However, in all aspects of education, we are numerically high but qualitatively low. Only a select few institutes (like IITs, IIMs, RITs etc.) are regarded as institutes delivering impeccable quality education of international standard. And entry in such institutes is also very difficult, with a success rate of less than 2 percent. Added to this are the admission filters like reservations and quotas, which reduce the entire study process to a complex and troublesome activity.  In terms of choice of subjects, there is a modest lineup of subjects to choose from. Even if unique choices are available, the quality of teaching is low either due to the lack of demand for these subjects or due to the lack of lucrative career options related to the subject.

Besides higher education, we also have a dearth of research projects and research related funds in India.  Less than 1 percent of undergraduate students take up PhD projects in India.  Against this backdrop, the introduction of the Bill seems like a panacea for all our problems related to higher education and research. Proponents of the Bill are rejoicing in the fact that the Bill will improve quality of education, provide more study options and will also give wider scope to qualified teachers.

However, as with any new policy, caution needs to be exercised.  India is a unique county with a unique set of problems, the majority being related to disparity. Many academicians believe that the Bill will increase the Educational Disparity in India. The foreign schools with a high fee structure will only be affordable to a select few. Considering, that India has an average of 50 million undergraduates (urban and rural) every year, we still have a large number of students who will be out of the Bill’s radar.  

Another issue is the quality of institutes. If there is a mass conquest by institutes of low standing and inferior quality, it will only deter the current state of affairs. A classic example is what happened in Australia. A lot of low quality, dubious institutes were set up in Australia under the aegis of its liberal education policy attracting international student enrollment. It resulted in a dilution of Australia’s image as a destination for quality education, in spite of having some very good education institutes. Though many schools in UK and Australia have approached the Indian Government, the top-schools are still tight lipped about their plans to set up base in India.

The Foreign Educational Institutions Bill is a good initiative if it supports the State and the Central Governments in changing the educational fabric of India. And this is not just restricted to academics.  100 percent Foreign Direct Investment may be used as a source of investment to fund the financial shortage that the Government faces in the higher and technical education sector. Besides, updated curricula and an active learning based pedagogy, foreign schools can also bring in improved managerial and organizational skills to run these schools. The benefits are multifold and will be effective only in the presence of a sound domestic regulatory framework. This translates into having robust registration and certification systems, allowing good institutes to set campus in India, having policies that protect the interests of the consumers (students) and create conditions in which the foreign institutions can co-exist and not compete in an unhealthy fashion with Indian institutes. After all ‘Education’ in India is national agenda that requires a proactive rather than a reactive approach.