<p>The National Education Policy (NEP) launched in July 2020 gives the vision for a new education system to be implemented in India. The focus of NEP is on five important aspects namely: Affordability, Accessibility, Quality, Equity and Accountability.</p>.<p>International exposure given to students and faculty has proven to enable them to have a competitive advantage over their peers. NEP aspires to attract a larger number of students from countries across the globe to pursue their higher education in India and also hopes for greater mobility for students from Indian universities to study outside India and get the credits transferred to the parent university.</p>.<p>There are several policy interventions in NEP 2020 focused on the Internationalisation of higher education. The government aspires to promote India as a global study destination providing premium education at affordable costs. There are policy interventions that advise the creation of the International Students Office (ISO) in every Higher Educational Institution (HEI) which hosts foreign students. These ISOs would be responsible for coordinating all aspects related to supporting students from abroad, who pursue their education in the respective HEI. </p>.<p>The policy encourages high-performing Indian universities to set up campuses in other countries and selected universities (from among the top 100 universities in the world) will be invited to set up their campuses in India. This will help in collaborative research and teaching along with greater faculty and student exchange with high-quality foreign institutions. NEP 2020 is also proposing a legislative framework that will facilitate special dispensation for foreign universities for aspects related to regulatory and governance norms at par with autonomous and private Indian institutions.</p>.<p>Conventionally, India has attracted students from Afro-Asian countries and the outflow of students from India is to the west. The high cost of medical education in India has also made countries like the Philippines, Ukraine and Russia, the destination for several students who aspire to pursue medicine as their profession. internationalisation of higher education for any Indian University is an important process that integrates international, intercultural, or global dimensions into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education.</p>.<p>When internationalisation becomes an agenda for an Indian University, it must focus on the recruitment of international students, development of international branch campuses, students, staff and scholars exchange programs, internationalisation of the curriculum and research and education partnerships with institutions internationally — which can help in building an international reputation for itself.</p>.<p>There are several benefits to this. The quality of academics and the academic exposure that the students would get would be certainly better. It also helps in understanding various cultures and customs which can be of benefit in real-time. For any developing country, this would help in revenue generation and in creating greater awareness and real-time exposure to issues, culture, language, customs and traditions of people across the globe.</p>.<p>While these benefits exist, there are also challenges to the internationalisation of higher education. International students pay inflated tuition fees when compared to domestic students in some countries, which can be a barrier to international study opportunities. Several Indian higher educational institutions don’t have a clear policy to facilitate the internationalisation of higher education.</p>.<p>There are other challenges including the administrative inertia and lack of understanding of what is involved in internationalisation of higher education. Lack of trained or qualified staff to guide the process, competing priorities and a specific set of qualifications not being recognised by all countries/universities is also a challenge.</p>.<p>If Indian higher educational institutions have to attract students from abroad, then it’s not only about the educational institution’s ability to offer quality education at an affordable cost with scholarships, it is also about the perception among the students about the country. When India is perceived as a country that provides 24x7 electricity, and state-of-the-art facilities, a country that has clean cities and villages with road and rail infrastructure at par with global standards, and perceived as ‘safe’ for all genders, higher education institutions will be able to attract students from across the globe.</p>.<p>(The author is the director of a Pune-based B-school)</p>
<p>The National Education Policy (NEP) launched in July 2020 gives the vision for a new education system to be implemented in India. The focus of NEP is on five important aspects namely: Affordability, Accessibility, Quality, Equity and Accountability.</p>.<p>International exposure given to students and faculty has proven to enable them to have a competitive advantage over their peers. NEP aspires to attract a larger number of students from countries across the globe to pursue their higher education in India and also hopes for greater mobility for students from Indian universities to study outside India and get the credits transferred to the parent university.</p>.<p>There are several policy interventions in NEP 2020 focused on the Internationalisation of higher education. The government aspires to promote India as a global study destination providing premium education at affordable costs. There are policy interventions that advise the creation of the International Students Office (ISO) in every Higher Educational Institution (HEI) which hosts foreign students. These ISOs would be responsible for coordinating all aspects related to supporting students from abroad, who pursue their education in the respective HEI. </p>.<p>The policy encourages high-performing Indian universities to set up campuses in other countries and selected universities (from among the top 100 universities in the world) will be invited to set up their campuses in India. This will help in collaborative research and teaching along with greater faculty and student exchange with high-quality foreign institutions. NEP 2020 is also proposing a legislative framework that will facilitate special dispensation for foreign universities for aspects related to regulatory and governance norms at par with autonomous and private Indian institutions.</p>.<p>Conventionally, India has attracted students from Afro-Asian countries and the outflow of students from India is to the west. The high cost of medical education in India has also made countries like the Philippines, Ukraine and Russia, the destination for several students who aspire to pursue medicine as their profession. internationalisation of higher education for any Indian University is an important process that integrates international, intercultural, or global dimensions into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education.</p>.<p>When internationalisation becomes an agenda for an Indian University, it must focus on the recruitment of international students, development of international branch campuses, students, staff and scholars exchange programs, internationalisation of the curriculum and research and education partnerships with institutions internationally — which can help in building an international reputation for itself.</p>.<p>There are several benefits to this. The quality of academics and the academic exposure that the students would get would be certainly better. It also helps in understanding various cultures and customs which can be of benefit in real-time. For any developing country, this would help in revenue generation and in creating greater awareness and real-time exposure to issues, culture, language, customs and traditions of people across the globe.</p>.<p>While these benefits exist, there are also challenges to the internationalisation of higher education. International students pay inflated tuition fees when compared to domestic students in some countries, which can be a barrier to international study opportunities. Several Indian higher educational institutions don’t have a clear policy to facilitate the internationalisation of higher education.</p>.<p>There are other challenges including the administrative inertia and lack of understanding of what is involved in internationalisation of higher education. Lack of trained or qualified staff to guide the process, competing priorities and a specific set of qualifications not being recognised by all countries/universities is also a challenge.</p>.<p>If Indian higher educational institutions have to attract students from abroad, then it’s not only about the educational institution’s ability to offer quality education at an affordable cost with scholarships, it is also about the perception among the students about the country. When India is perceived as a country that provides 24x7 electricity, and state-of-the-art facilities, a country that has clean cities and villages with road and rail infrastructure at par with global standards, and perceived as ‘safe’ for all genders, higher education institutions will be able to attract students from across the globe.</p>.<p>(The author is the director of a Pune-based B-school)</p>