Making their presence felt

Shivli Tyagi / TNN / Jul 10, 2006, 20:56 IST

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IIM, XLRI, SP Jain and even some central universities are opening campuses abroad.

IIM, XLRI, SP Jain and even some central universities are opening campuses abroad.
'Flaunting' foreign degrees is a favourite Indian pastime. But the situation may be reversed soon with some of the best brains in the Middle East and in the Far East getting a chance to 'show off' degrees they will receive from top Indian institutes --sitting in their own countries.
When Union HRD minister Arjun Singh recently told a high level gathering in Dubai that countries where there was a large Indian expatriate population needed more Indian schools and colleges --he opened the doors for education to be exported.
Dr Sudarshan Iyengar, VC, Gujarat Vidyapith finds nothing surprising in this. "With the service industry opening up this was bound to happen. The best that we have to offer, needs to be offered to others too."

Scholars too are happy. A research scholar based at IIM Ahmedabad says, "A move in this direction will help students abroad who want a degree from an IIM or an IIT but can't come all the way here."
However, his IIM-A research mate, former IIT-ian Ashutosh Roy is not so sure, "Apart from a couple of premier institutes, the level of higher education is still not upto international standards. Before heading out en masse it is essential for the government to be clear about whether they just want to make money, or make it's presence felt globally as a centre for higher learning."

Institutes too have their own share of uncertainties. IIM-A director Bakul Dholakia feels one can set up a higher education institute abroad only if the infrastructure and the standard of the faculty matches its existing standards. "The government needs to have a broad based policy and make sure that the education that is being provided is also in tune with local needs."
Some educationists are also worried about the trend of 'marketing' higher education under the guise of getting a global presence. Rasu Vakil, dean, CEPT says, "There is nothing wrong in setting up higher education institutes abroad. But I don't think I would want to 'market' higher education."
Another aspect experts say needs considering, is the economic and political conditions of the country where an Indian institute is being set up as well as a 'quality control' on the kind of education being provided. Dr Iyengar feels it might be difficult to brush off an image of a 'developing nation' if one is setting up an institute in a developed country. "Of course setting up institutes in SAARC nations and Russia would be good," he adds.
shivli.tyagi@timesgroup.com

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