Foreign universities interested in setting up campuses in India must rank among the top 500 internationally, or enjoy a certain stature in their home jurisdiction. They will be required to offer correspondence with their mother institutions in terms of faculty qualifications, education imparted and degrees conferred. They must teach in class. Online and distance learning are not permitted.
Although unexceptionable in intent, several of these requirements pose hurdles. Higher education the world over struggles to ensure quality while scaling up. This has been the experience with Indian institutes of repute trying to broaden the pyramid. It will be that much more difficult for foreign institutions setting up campuses here.
Shortage of domestic teaching capacity is hard to be augmented by foreign faculty of comparable standing and this may fall short of the expected outcome of conserving forex.
The human resource constraint, and not capital, is the operating one in India’s higher education. UGC’s draft rules could perpetuate this poor participation by allowing less freedom over fees and pay to local institutions. The flexibility to repatriate surplus may also work against the co-location of research and academics that builds reputation among universities. As they stand, the proposals fail to address some of the basic infirmities in India’s higher education.