New Delhi: For the recent move to increase collaborations between Indian and foreign universities, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has reached out to almost 500 foreign universities across the US, UK, Europe and East Asia.
UGC is now planning to conduct a meeting with the heads of those foreign missions in India to discuss the potential of tie-ups in steps such as twinning programmes, joint degrees and dual degree programmes, to be applicable from the academic cycle 2022-23.
The meeting is set to start a dialogue on recent regulations for academic collaboration between Indian and foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Joint Degree, Dual Degree and Twinning Programmes. This University Grants Commission Regulations were released in April 2022.
“We have also sent them (foreign institutions) a list of eligible Indian universities with whom MoUs can be signed. We have not written to any universities in China although some of their universities fulfil the eligibility criteria,” as UGC Chairperson M. Jagdesh Kumar informed “The Indian Express” on Sunday, May 15, 2022.
In April, this year, UGC issued a set of regulations for top universities in India to collaborate with foreign universities. The rules were set to internationalise higher education in line with NEP 2020 and offer dual, joint and twinning programs.
“In case of twinning programmes, an Indian HEI can collaborate with a foreign HEI, following which a student can physically go to a foreign HEI, stay there for a semester or two and earn credits upto a limit of 30% of the credits required for the programme”, as explained by the Chairman.
Similar to this, foreign students can also come and stay in India and manage to obtain 30% of the credits required for the degree programme.
“This will help Indian students to study in a foreign country while they get the degree from the Indian institution. The foreign HEI will give a certificate of recognition to certify the credits earned for the component for which the student has earned credits abroad”, as further explained by Professor Kumar.
Eligibility Criteria for Collaboration
According to the regulation, there are certain eligibility criteria that must be followed by the institutes looking forward to the collaboration. Those are the following:
- Foreign institutes willing to collaborate must rank within the top 1000 in either the “Times Higher Education” or “QS Ranking” lists
- The Indian Universities must meet the equivalent standard or be placed among the top 100 in the “National Institutional Ranking Framework” (NIRF). Otherwise, they must have a minimum score of 3.01 from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
The highly potential collaboration between Indian and foreign institutions in the field of higher education is one of the key recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Kumar also has highlighted the fact that since India has approximately 4 crore students it is most important to broaden the opportunity so that they can have wide access to more higher and interdisciplinary skill-based education.
There are discussions and plans to pave the way for renowned IITs such as IIT Delhi to set up their campuses abroad. A committee under the supervision of IIT Council Chairman Dr K Radhakrishnan was formed last December. That committee has recently submitted its recommendations for opening offshore campuses of Indian Higher Educational Institutions.
The planning of another expert committee to get renowned foreign universities to establish their campuses in India has also reached its final stage.
“It will also reduce a part of the outflow of foreign exchange which stands at about $US 25 billion currently”, stated Professor Kumar.
According to the official estimates, 50,000 international students are currently enrolled in the courses offered by Indian universities.
Course Delivery and Planning:
According to the regulation, the dual degree and twinning courses offered by this collaboration will have to be delivered in conventional methods. Therefore, no online platform can be included and students have to be physically present during the delivery of the course.
Both the Indian and foreign universities will have to come up with a fee structure and make it available on the public website of the respective institutions prior to admission. The fees have to be an amount that can be arranged by the majority of the candidates. The aim is to add more diversity and richness among the Indian students for future prosperity.
Read More:
- UGC Allows Students to Pursue 2 Degrees Simultaneously; Read Guidelines
- UGC Declares 8-10 Weeks Internship Compulsory for UG Students
To get the latest educational news and updates, follow us on Google News!
Comments