India: Internationalisation initiative

Higher education experts have predicted that India is poised to become a major recruiter of overseas students, under a new internationalisation strategy that eschews the revenue-focused approaches favoured by other countries. The Study in India scheme, launched jointly by four ministries, aims to increase the number of international students from a mere 47,000 currently to 200,000 in the next five years, by targeting 30 countries across South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. The longer term aim is to attract one million foreign learners to the country. But the quality of Indian higher education institutions — none is in the Top 200 of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings — means its doubtful whether the country’s move will erode enrollment in traditional hubs such as the UK, the US and Australia in the near future. Yet, while the country is hoping to improve the standard of its universities via an institutions of eminence excellence initiative, its recruitment strategy is very different from that of the established players, which typically eye the financial rewards of international student enrollment. The Indian government says it will create an extra 15,000 places across 160 universities for international students in the academic year 2018-19, meaning there would be no adverse impact on the number of seats for Indian students. It adds that the top 25 percent of students would receive a full tuition fee waiver, and a further 50 percent would receive a partial waiver of between 25-50 percent, but this cost will have to be borne by the institute concerned, based on cross-subsidisation or through its existing funding. India’s universities have historically been very weak when it comes to internationalisation, with a 2017 report of the Association of Indian Universities claiming that the country’s recruitment of foreign students is abysmally low. But, announcing the new scheme, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar said that India can become a hub of affordable education for foreign students. The government has approved an investment of Rs.150 crore (£16.5 million) for the programme for 2018-19 and 2019-20. Over time, the scheme is expected to bring in revenue. Dr. Rajika Bhandari, head of research, policy and practice at the US-based Institute of International Education, says various administrations in India have introduced initiatives focused on internationalising higher education that have not really come to fruition, but this is the first time the country has made such a strong financial commitment. “India will definitely emerge as a regional leader and a regional hub within Asia for international student recruitment”, she said, adding that that spot is currently occupied by China. According to her, “India has several attributes working in its favour, including a very large higher education system, a rapidly growing economy, the use of English-language instruction and low-cost education”. Hans de Wit, director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, says the target of reaching 200,000 students in five years is rather ambitious, especially given that the competition is far ahead of…