Namaste shikshakon, aapka INSEAD, Noida mein swagat hai!

You could well be soon soaking in Kotler’s 4Ps sitting at INSEAD, Noida or HEC, Palampur. The government of India has just given foreign institutes permission to operate independently in India. That means they can set up campuses and offer degrees without having a local partner.

This seems like a good move for everyone – students will benefit from world class options right here in India. Foreign institutes will get access to a billion strong market with growing aspirations. The government stands to benefit too. Sources say this move will substantially reduce the burden of building homegrown world class institutes and free up time for more appearances on 9 o’clock news.

Here are the numbers – the higher educational market in India is worth Rs.46,200 crore and expanding by 18% every year, according to 40 million by 2020, a report from audit and consulting firm EY. Foreign universities have been raring to tap this potential.

An educational institution that wants to operate in India needs to be in the top 400 in one of three global rankings. These are the UK-based Times Higher Education Ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranking published in UK, and the China-based Shanghai Jiao Tong University rankings. HRD ministry officials said that at least 20 foreign universities—mostly from US, followed by Australia and Canada—have expressed their desire to enter the market. “Universities such as Duke University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and VirginiaTech are some of the names that have shown interest,” said a government representative.

The degrees awarded by foreign universities in India will be considered foreign degrees and students holding these degrees need to get an equivalence certificate from the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), the HRD ministry said in its statement.

There are two aspect we are debating and would like to hear your views on-

1. Does Harvard outside Boston hold the same draw as the main campus? In India we have seen a preference for the ‘main’ campus among students. Aspirants hoping to make it to ISB for instance had a marked preference in the initial phase for the Hyderabad campus since this is where the ISB journey started. This might be changing and may largely be a perception issue as the quality of academics is of course the same within an institute no matter where the campus. But will this perception be a roadblock? Will Harvard in India command the same respect as Harvard in Boston?

2. On a slightly contradictory note, education is so much more than what you learn in a classroom. Consequently a campus is much more than the academic block. The ecosystem within and around the campus makes the campus come alive – the exposure to a foreign way of life, learning in a multicultural class, a chance to participate in long standing traditions on campus such as the ‘parliamentary debate’ at Oxford aren’t so easily transplanted in a new land. Can one pluck a institute out of its surroundings and expect the education to be the same?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below or mail us your view at [email protected] If it’s an interesting perspective, we will feature it on the frontpage.