Roadmap for effective foreign participation in Indian higher education sector - a study

Abstract

As an emerging economic powerhouse, India needs a vast pool of talented and qualified human capital. To create and retain this pool, it is imperative that the country has a robust system of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). When India is trying to position itself as a knowledge economy and services hub of the world, the ground reality paints a very different picture – a higher education system which is highly deficient in all counts, be it capacity, coverage, enrolment, quality, accreditation, employability, government participation and regulatory framework. India’s existing higher education sector can absorb only 6 percent of youth aged 18-24. In India, post-liberalization economic measures continue unabated and there has been an influx of foreign capital in several sectors like telecommunication, automobile, IT and ITES. But, in a sector like Higher Education, govt. policies are hazy and insufficient to leverage the entry of renowned foreign institutions, though many of them have shown tremendous interest in setting up campuses here. Regulatory hassles, poor enforcement of the existing terms and conditions, have created a “lemon’s problem”, in the sense that good players are still in two minds in how to enter the sector while inferior players have somehow bypassed all norms and making quick money. This has led to deficient, poor quality of higher education in the country, resulting in mass exodus by talented students to western countries. The perception of the quality is such that many of them are actually jumping the gun to enroll in unheard of universities, just to have the tag of a foreign degree. In this scenario, many prudent minds have suggested creating the right set of framework and policies to usher in the renowned foreign universities, who can not only impart high quality education, but also will raise the bar of local institutions as well.