New Delhi :- India is currently one of the world's fastest growing economies poised to demonstrate its superpower status. What’s driving this steady climb on the progress charts of the economy is undoubtedly India’s immense human capital with 50% of its demographics in the tertiary age group and there is no stone left unturned to harness its full potential.
To infuse the transformation that would arm its young population with a competitive edge to become global players and help reap the development dividends, India opened its doors to enhanced international collaborations with the visionary National Education Policy 2020.
The result envisioned, ‘internationalization of education with high-quality, accessible and affordable’ education would also modernize the existing learning models, the pedagogy, and shift from a didactic to an interactive learning approach. Huge interest from premier international institutions is pouring in to amplify student and research mobility, offer course consultation and undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered at satellite campuses set up in India.
Deakin University, Australia is the first to inaugurate a branch campus right here at Gujarat International Finance Tec-city becoming the cynosure of all eyes and winning with commendations of Prime Ministers of both India and Australia.
This has built a momentumand international universities are expressing a heightened interest to open branch campuses in India. This will revolutionise what Indian students can access right here forgoing the costs of studying abroad while having larger options to choose from beyond domestic institutions. It comes as a well-packaged option actualised by NEP which aims to enhance the global engagement with UGC and IFSCA monitoring the standards, norms, and protocols.
So, what’s the winning and where’s the catch?
Reflecting upon the objectives and outcomes projected, the operation of the international branch campuses in India is keyed on the lines of India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ theme that juxtaposes ‘Make in India’ with ‘Transform in India. Instead of a rhetoric ‘this or that’ approach, India combines enhancing excellence of domestic institution with competition from global entities while achieving synergy with international knowledge resources through branch campuses.
This directly aligns with India’s strategic mapping for economic development by emerging as a sustainable knowledge economy charting its growth through an ‘internal excellence driving outcome’ approach. It is shored by a drastic increase in investment capacity of India’s middle class with 57 % ready to invest in higher education.
The demand for global standards of education is booming with over 1.3 million Indian students opting to study abroad in 2022-2023 inflating the spend in excess of US$47 billion. It is projected to cross US$70 billion by the year 2025. A welcome reprieve for Indian students is the option of accessing international education on local grounds at branch campuses with the additional incentive of the tuition fees kept affordable.
It helps India check the outbound flow of talented students and future professionals while creating a hyper-global ecosystem of excellence right here. Additionally, international HEIs setting up campuses in India puts India on the global map and opens India’s doors for increased in-bound student and faculty mobility further enriching the learning landscape and facilitating the ‘Study in India’ initiative of the Government of India.
While Deakin University, a premier Australian university, ranked among the top 1% universities globally has put up the stakes to set up a state-of-the-art campus marking the advent of the trend and setting a precedent for followers, there are now multitudes. A steady stream of announcements of branch campuses and interest have followed. What they bring to the country are multi-faceted advantages for India.
Competitively positioning courses aligned for India’s growth as a digital economy the courses being offered are not just identical as those offered in their countries but also geared to address course demands as per Indian industry and market requirements. Courses that are popular among students and employers both in terms of professional growth, development and advancement are being offered to directly benefit and address requirements of both students and employers.
India is currently focusing on skilling its workforce and the Interim Budget 2024 provides clear evidence with an increased allocation for the Skill India Mission. International branch campuses bring in the supporting resources to train India’s millions enhancing their employability both locally and globally. Moreover, a broadened approach to learning infuses the spirit of innovation, dynamism and entrepreneurship that feeds into India’s progress directly.
The time has come for India’s youth to reap the benefits of India coming of digital age and they are here to claim the standards of education that will ultimately equip them as future stakeholders of India’s progress. A shrugging of the traditional norms of learning to widen the approach and keen eye on improvising through a global lens is the need of the hour and NEP has sought to remedy this.
While nothing comes without challenges, India stands to win dramatically with its domestic policies aligning with its policies for internationalisation. Incentivising premier international institutions to invest in India may just be the key enabler for many an Indian student and India looks prepared to navigate that road systematically and purposefully.
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