Steps are on to promote India as a global study destination and enabling internationalisation of higher education in the country
Facilitating research and teaching collaborations, enabling faculty and student exchange with high-quality foreign higher education institutions, and signing of relevant mutually beneficial MoUs with foreign countries are some of the initiatives that form part of the National Education Policy 2020. These measures that are aimed at promoting India as a global study destination and internationalisation of higher education in India are set to be provided a boost in the coming months.
As part of the policy, high performing Indian universities will also be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries. Besides, handpicked universities such as those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.
Envisioning India as a global study destination
The higher education administration in the country is also setting up International Student Offices at each higher education institution so as to enable support for students arriving from abroad. Measures are also being undertaken to count credits acquired in foreign universities, wherever appropriate as per requirement for each higher education institution. Courses and programmes in Indology, Indian Languages, AYUSH systems of medicines, yoga, arts and the like will also be offered to students arriving from overseas nations.
As part of the recommendations made by the NEP 2020, a slew of measures has also been initiated to strengthen internationalization of the higher education. These steps include charting out guidelines on internationalization of higher education, and they have been notified by the University Grants Commission in July last year.
As per these guidelines, provisions such as setting up of an Office for International Affairs and Alumni Connect Cell in the campus of universities hosting foreign students will happen. It has been notified that as many as 179 universities have already established the Office for International Affairs, while 158 universities have set up Alumni Connect Cells.
Academic collaboration between Indian and foreign higher education institutions
Further, the UGC (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programmes) Regulations, 2022 were notified in May this year with the goal of fostering academic collaboration between Indian and foreign higher education institutions.
In a bid to add more muscle to the efforts taken in the higher education arena in India for foreign students a bunch of to foreign universities and institutions will be allowed in Gujarat’s GIFT City to offer courses in Financial Management, FinTech, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This will be enabled by making these courses free from domestic regulations, except those by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to facilitate availability of high-end human resources for financial services and technology, the Ministry of Education has said.