Internationalisation of Higher Education

Internationalisation of Higher Education- Relevance for UPSC Exam

• GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Internationalisation of Higher Education in News

• Recently, the Minister of State for Education informed Lok Sabha about various initiatives taken by the government to promote Internationalisation of Higher Education as per mandate of National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.

NEP 2020 on Internationalisation of Higher Education

NEP 2020 stipulates various measure to promote India as global study destination and Internationalisation. For example-

• Facilitating research / teaching collaborations and faculty /student exchange with high-quality foreign HEI and signing of relevant mutually beneficial MOUs with foreign countries;
• Encouraging high performing Indian universities to set up campuses in other countries;
• Selected universities e.g., those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India;
• Setting up of International Student Office at each HEI for welcoming and supporting students arriving from abroad;
• Counting credits acquired in foreign universities, wherever appropriate as per requirement for each HEI; and
• Courses and programmes in subjects, such as Indology, Indian Languages, AYUSH systems of medicines, yoga, arts etc.

Government Initiatives to Promote Internationalisation of Higher Education

In line with the recommendations of National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, several measures have been initiated to strengthen Internationalization of the Higher Education, such as:

• Guidelines on Internationalization of Higher Education were notified by UGC in July, 2021.
  • It includes provisions like setting up of Office for International Affairs and Alumni Connect Cell in the campus of Universities hosting foreign students.
• 179 Universities have established Office for International Affairs and 158 Universities have set up Alumni Connect Cells.
• Academic Collaboration: In order to foster academic collaboration between Indian HEIs and foreign HEIs, “University Grants Commission Regulations, 2022” have been notified in 2022.
• World-class foreign universities and institutions will be allowed in the GIFT City, Gujarat to offer courses in Financial Management, FinTech, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
  • These will be free from domestic regulations, except those by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
  • It aims to facilitate availability of high-end human resources for financial services and technology.
• Offshore Campuses: UGC Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities Regulations have been amended to allow Institutions of Eminence to set up Off-Shore campuses.

Key points About NEP-2020

• It is the third education policy of our country. The earlier two was launched in 1968 and 1986.
  • This national policy came after a gap of 34 years.
• It is based on the recommendations of Kasturirangan committee.
• It renames the Ministry of Human Resource Development to Ministry of Education.
• It proposes a 5+3+3+4 curricular and pedagogical structure.

Implementation of NEP-2020

• There will be an apex body called Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which will resolve disputes among the following bodies.

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