Foreign Educational Institutions in India

Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India

#GS-02 Education, International Relations

For Prelims

University Grants Commission (UGC):

  • University Grants Commission was established under an Act of Parliament in 1953.
  • It functions under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) with its head office located in New Delhi.
  • It is responsible for the coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of higher education in India.

 

For Mains

New Draft Regulations by UGC

  • The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently announced the draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’.

The provisions in the regulation

Who can apply:

The following two categories of institutions are allowed to apply to the UGC to set up a campus in India viz,

  • A foreign university among the top 500 global rankings.
  • A foreign educational institution of repute in its home jurisdiction.
How such a campus will be governed:
  • Such a campus can create their own admission criteria and process and are allowed to admit both domestic and foreign
  • It will also have autonomy to decide its fee structure, and will not have to comply with the caps that are imposed on Indian institutions.
  • The only criteria is that the fee should be “reasonable and transparent”.
  • It will also have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff from both India and abroad.
  • However, such universities and colleges are prohibited to “offer any such programme of study which jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India.”
  • They will also be able to have cross-border movement of funds.

Education and Forex

  • As per the RBI, ₹5 billion was lost in foreign exchange due to the nearly 13 lakh students studying abroad in FY 2021-2022.

Source “Can foreign universities set up campuses in India now?