Further, they also contended that the Bill was another “Bt Brinjal in the making.”

Educationists including Dr N Prabhu Dev, Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University and M I Savadatti, Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka State Higher Education Council were among the participants at a round table discussion on the Foreign Universities Bill 2010.
The discussion was organised on Thursday by the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP) and was chaired by Justice Rama Jois. Savadatti set the tone for the discussion by stating that none of the foreign varsities will be setting up a campus for service.
“They’re coming for commercial considerations and we have to accept it. This is another Bt Brinjal in the making,” he said.

Most educationists raised doubts about the intentions of the varsities. Former BU V-C Professor N R Shetty declared that he was not ‘excited’ by the development and stated that foreign varsities will not be coming for altruistic reasons.

Bangalore University
V-C Dr N Prabhu Dev took a neutral stance on the entry of foreign universities but warned that giving them an opportunity to exist ‘directly’ would pose challenges for local varsities.

“Only one per cent of students in the country will be studying in these foreign varsities. But these varsities could adversely impact faculty positions at local universities which are already functioning only with 40 per cent faculty strength,” he said.
Former Visvesvaraya Technological University V-C Balaveera Reddy suggested that these varsities too must be subject to the local model of affiliation. “They have to prove themselves initially under the affiliation model and subsequently earn autonomy and then deemed status,” he argued.

Former Chief Justice of Punjab and Jharkhand Governor Justice Rama Jois who chaired the discussion, observed that an important Bill like this should be subjected to a public debate.
DH News Service