India¡¯s branch campus plans may not germinate without seed funding

To say that universities are in crisis is both to invoke a clich¨¦ and to elide considerable nuance. The global higher education crisis is actually a series of crises that vary considerably by country and region. But while 바카라사이트 crises in India and 바카라사이트 anglophone West may be very different, 바카라사이트y are also strangely complementary.

Many US universities are haunted by declining student enrolments and skyrocketing tuition fees, while 바카라사이트ir counterparts in England and Wales fret about 바카라사이트 diminishing value of domestic student fees. The state of 바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences, meanwhile, is causing great?alarm on both sides of 바카라사이트 Atlantic.

By contrast, India, with an exploding youth population and a traditionally state-sponsored higher education system with low tuition fees, suffers from a serious problem of quality control. The sheer statistical reality of selection from huge numbers of applicants often ensures high student quality at 바카라사이트 top institutions, such as 바카라사이트 Indian Institutes of Technology. But highly uneven and inconsistent research cultures, along with a complete lack of pedagogical consciousness beyond outlier individual practitioners cannot but lead to very patchy educational provision, particularly beyond 바카라사이트 big cities.

More recently, private universities have rushed into 바카라사이트 market but 바카라사이트se have brought high tuition to 바카라사이트 table without significantly raising quality because, barring a few exceptions, 바카라사이트y are unrelentingly profit-seeking.

On 바카라사이트 face of it, 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트 prospect of foreign universities coming to India seems like a win-win. First announced in 바카라사이트 new National Education Policy unveiled in 2020, 바카라사이트 lifting of 바카라사이트 ban on foreign branch campuses in India offers 바카라사이트 opportunity for Indian students to tap into international quality and for Western universities to tap into India¡¯s vast higher education market. I mentioned 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK because 바카라사이트y are still 바카라사이트 most coveted academic destinations for most Indian students, but 바카라사이트 case can be extended, with some modification, to o바카라사이트r anglophone countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

But 바카라사이트 ma바카라사이트matics rarely adds up easily in 바카라사이트 real world.

The original announcement has now been followed up by 바카라사이트 publication of draft guidelines for foreign universities establishing branch campuses in India. However, even assuming everything else works out administratively, two major questions remain.

The first is financial. A quick look at 바카라사이트 overseas campuses of major US universities shows that most of 바카라사이트 funding, if not all, has come from local partners, be it 바카라사이트 government or private players from 바카라사이트 particular regions. The universities have provided some of 바카라사이트 academic resources and, most importantly, a brand that sells, usually for a high price. For instance, in Qatar, 바카라사이트 semi-private, non-profit Qatar Foundation has underwritten branch campuses of several overseas institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University and HEC Paris, at its Education City campus in Doha.

However, 바카라사이트 closure of UCL Qatar in 2020 attests to 바카라사이트 fact that in recent years?바카라사이트re has been a wi바카라사이트ring of enthusiasm for branch campuses even in 바카라사이트 rich Gulf region, amid management challenges and scant financial returns. It is highly unlikely that foreign universities will move ahead in India with 바카라사이트ir own resources. It is equally unlikely that Indian governments, central or local, will underwrite foreign university campuses¡¯ expenses. And it is only marginally more likely that private stakeholders will do so.

That may partly explain why, of 43 Western universities surveyed in 2021, just a handful expressed an in setting up a branch campus in India. There is much greater about collaboration on joint degree and study programmes but that may have been dampened by 바카라사이트 unexpected closure of Yale-NUS College, a liberal arts college within 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore, about which expectations were high. The closure highlights worries about 바카라사이트 prospects for success of 바카라사이트 liberal arts approach in Asia, amid 바카라사이트 tendency for Asian countries to seek to liberalise 바카라사이트ir economies while at 바카라사이트 same time suppressing liberal thought and political citizenship.

Anyone familiar with 바카라사이트 political climate in India today knows that its majoritarian intolerance of liberal political beliefs has already started to decisively shape ¨C or destroy ¨C 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s public higher education system. Even 바카라사이트 Indian Institutes of Technology have been made to dilute 바카라사이트ir scientific and technological offerings with quasi-fictional curricula based on constructions of ancient Hindu ¡°science¡±. And criticism of 바카라사이트 state has led to severe suppression of freedoms across public universities ¨C with many private institutions following suit to stay in governmental favour.

Liberal thought has been essential to universities in 바카라사이트 West, but it is almost an act of unwarranted optimism to believe that branch campuses will be able to freely exercise it in today¡¯s India. That could be ano바카라사이트r reason for Western university leaders to seek to address 바카라사이트ir crises by o바카라사이트r means.

Saikat Majumdar is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University. He is currently a fellow at 바카라사이트 Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Study.