Govt to set up Indo-US Education Council

The meeting is likely to be held during Obamas visit to India

“We need to set up the council before November and can hold the first meeting when Obama is here in early November,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here on Wednesday. The minister, who was on an official visit to the US recently, said US universities including Stanford, Berkeley and San Francisco are keen to collaborate with Indian institutes once the Foreign Educational Institution Bill, 2010, is passed by Parliament.  

The bill seeks to regulate the entry and operation of foreign institutions, which will set up centres and offer degrees in India.  This bill was hanging fire for over four years owing to the opposition from various quarters. Last year, it was referred to a Committee of Secretaries which brought modifications to certain earlier provisions.

“People in the US have read the draft bill and they do not have any objection about it. I have a very positive interaction with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Education Secretary Duncan,” Sibal said.

Clinton appreciated the massive nature of the education reforms in India. There was a “broad agreement” between two sides that collaboration should be expanded in the education sector, Sibal said.

“They are very keen to collaborate with us in skill development and research. The desire is to collaborate in every level including school education,” Sibal said adding that the Virginia Tech University has already purchased land in Tamil Nadu.

The proposed law on foreign education providers prescribes an eight-month time format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses. They will go through different levels of registration process during this period and will be finally registered with the University Grants Commission or any other regulatory body.

The regulatory body in higher education will scrutinise the proposals of aspiring institutions as per India’s priorities and advise the government whether to allow the institute to operate in India.