-By ArdorComm News Network
May 16, 2022
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has reached out to over 500 foreign universities throughout the US, UK, Europe, and East Asia as part of a massive push to increase collaborations between Indian and foreign higher education institutions.
The commission currently plans to meet with the heads of foreign missions in India to discuss possible collaborations in accordance with the recently announced regulations on twinning, joint degree, and dual degree programmes, which will take effect in the academic year 2022-23.
In April, the University Grants Commission (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to Offer Joint Degrees, Dual Degree, and Twinning Programmes) Regulations, 2022 were published.
“We have also sent them (foreign institutions) a list of eligible Indian universities with whom MoUs can be signed. We have not written to any universities in China although some of their universities fulfil the eligibility criteria,” UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar told The Indian Express on Sunday.
Foreign institutes interested in collaborating must be ranked in the top 1000 in the Times Higher Education or QS rankings. Indian universities that satisfy the same level or are ranked among the top 100 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) or have a minimum NAAC score of 3.01 are eligible.
Academic collaborations between Indian and foreign institutions in the higher education sector are one of the National Education Policy 2020’s core recommendations.
Work is also being done to make it easier for prestigious Indian universities like IIT Delhi to open campuses abroad. Last December, a committee chaired by IIT council chairman Dr. K Radhakrishnan published its suggestions for the establishment of offshore campuses of Indian higher educational institutions.
Another expert panel’s deliberations to attract prominent foreign universities to open campuses in India have also reached the “final stage,” according to Prof Kumar. “It will also reduce a part of the outflow of foreign exchange which stands at about $US 25 billion currently.” Approximately 50,000 international students are now enrolled in Indian colleges, according to official estimates.
Source: Indian Express