US has been a top priority off late for higher education. With premiere institutes like Harvard and MIT under its roof, US has also been able to provide value-for-money education. Last year, over 105,000 Indian students were studying abroad in the U.S. Having said this, should India take a step forward and collaborate with foreign educational institutes? Will this make higher education better in India?The first ever high-level Indo-US education summit was held on Wednesday. The summit saw one of the key decisions in the field of education. Over 300 higher education leaders, government and private sector representatives participated in the day long education summit co-chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. India made a major pitch for US educational institutes to collaborate with Indian universities, with a belief that it would not only result in the betterment of individuals, but the world as a whole. The attempt was also to make India a hub for higher education.
“The way to move forward in education is to come to India, to collaborate and set up institutions and reach out to people", India's Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said. Suresh Kumar, U.S. Commerce Department official added that India needs to collaborate with foreign universities, in order to accommodate its own plan of sending 30% of graduating high-school kids to college by 2020, up from 13% now.
According to the HRD Minister, US has the best academic front, which most other countries lag behind. Sharing or extending this to India will not only bring in a change in the Indian education but will also trigger a shift in the economic activities. However, India’s proposed higher education bill does permit foreign universities to enter the country, but it would prevent them from taking the profits back home.
US Official’s view on the issue
Sibal said bad experiences with universities like Tri Valley are "aberrations" and should not be used to paint the entire American education system as flawed. He also affirmed that any university must have been in the business for 20 years, to establish a base in India. This way sham universities can be curbed from entering the country. The minister also added that India will ensure through its accreditation process that it is a quality institution.
“The way to move forward in education is to come to India, to collaborate and set up institutions and reach out to people", India's Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal said. Suresh Kumar, U.S. Commerce Department official added that India needs to collaborate with foreign universities, in order to accommodate its own plan of sending 30% of graduating high-school kids to college by 2020, up from 13% now.
According to the HRD Minister, US has the best academic front, which most other countries lag behind. Sharing or extending this to India will not only bring in a change in the Indian education but will also trigger a shift in the economic activities. However, India’s proposed higher education bill does permit foreign universities to enter the country, but it would prevent them from taking the profits back home.
US Official’s view on the issue
Sibal said bad experiences with universities like Tri Valley are "aberrations" and should not be used to paint the entire American education system as flawed. He also affirmed that any university must have been in the business for 20 years, to establish a base in India. This way sham universities can be curbed from entering the country. The minister also added that India will ensure through its accreditation process that it is a quality institution.
