Be wary of foreign university branches

The government is once again taking initiative to open campuses of foreign university branches in the country. This is a cause of consternation rather than hope.

A three-member committee has been formed to look into the opening of the foreign university branches in the country. Senior secretary of the education ministry has said that the decisions to be taken in this regard will be based on the committee’s recommendations.

There are already over 50 public universities in the country as well as 104 private ones. What was the need for foreign university campuses then? The government says that most of the private universities are failing to maintain a proper standard of education and not even adhering to the government rules and regulations. In fact, a recent survey showed that of the 104 private universities, only 20 actually were maintaining any sort of standard.

A few years ago the University Grants Commission had black-listed 56 foreign educational institutions and even published the list in the media. While there are no foreign university campuses in the country at present, some are still running their programmes here in an underhand manner.

In 2014 the education ministry came up with regulations for running foreign university branches or study centres in the country. After that, over 20 foreign universities had applied to open campuses here, but were not given approval. The regulations are now reportedly being made stricter than before. But what guarantee is there that the regulations will be followed?

According to the regulations, as in the case of private universities, the foreign universities would be required to have their own premises or leased premises comprising at least 25,000 sq ft and enough space to accommodate classrooms for all the students. Study centres would have to have premises with at least 10,000 sq ft. But where would they get qualified teachers? And at one time there was the lucrative business of private universities churning out certificates. That has been stemmed somewhat, but not altogether halted.

The actual catch lies in the regulations that allow foreign universities to open branches here either on their own or with a local representative or jointly with local or foreign quarters. It would be most probable that politically influential quarters will open foreign universities in the name of local representatives, just as they have done in the case of private universities.

The foreign universities must not be opened just for the business of providing certificates. The education standards of public and private universities are not satisfactory. There are branches of foreign universities in many countries, but it is important to determine what sort of universities are to be opened here.

No one is likely to object to world renowned universities opening their branches here. But sub-standard foreign universities will do nothing to up the standard of education. They will simply rake in big bucks in exchange of meting out certificates. So before a final decision is taken in this regard, the matter must be given serious thought.

The education ministry has said that strict rules and regulations will be imposed in this regard. The regulations regarding private universities are sufficiently strict too, but are not being followed. The owners of these universities are mostly of the ruling party coterie and cannot be touched. It is quite evident that the same trend will be followed in the case of foreign university branches in the country.