A Temporary Historical past of India’s Schooling System

Half 4E: Opening Up Increased Schooling to International Universities

[This article is a part of a series of articles on ‘India’s Education Journey: From Macaulay to NEP’. This is the ninth part of this series. The previous articles have been published in previous issues of Janata Weekly.]

WTO, GATS and India

As mentioned in a earlier article on this sequence, most colonial international locations of Asia and Africa that gained independence after the Second World Warfare pursued autonomous capitalist improvement fashions. By the Seventies, these fashions had turn out to be crisis-ridden. These international locations now started borrowing from the developed international locations, leading to rising overseas debt. By the early Nineteen Eighties, many of those international locations had been trapped in an exterior debt disaster (much like India’s debt disaster of 1991).

The creating international locations then negotiated with the WB–IMF for debt rescheduling, and like India did later in 1991, agreed to implement the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in return for recent loans, which required opening their economies to overseas capital and items. This marked the start of what mainstream economists name the ‘globalisation of the world financial system’.

As has occurred in India, the SAP conditionalities have solely worsened the exterior debt disaster of the creating international locations, forcing them to more and more open their markets to overseas capital.[81]

In 1994, the developed international locations arm-twisted the creating international locations into signing the Marrakesh Agreements that reworked the Normal Settlement on Commerce and Tariffs (GATT) into the World Commerce Organisation (WTO). Not like GATT, which had primarily handled commerce in merchandise items, the brand new agreements prolong to commerce in different sectors. Considered one of these is the Normal Settlement on Commerce in Companies (GATS) that covers worldwide commerce in all service sectors, together with training and well being.

GATS permits member international locations to decide on which sectors to liberalise and to what extent. However as soon as a dedication is made, it’s binding and irreversible. As soon as a authorities opens up a selected service sector to overseas capital, it can not impose restrictions on it, and moreover, should deal with the overseas buyers the identical as home corporations—successfully which means that it should finish all regulation of that service, even whether it is a necessary service like water, well being or training, and privatise it.[82]

On the Fourth WTO Ministerial Convention in Doha (2001), developed international locations pushed for a brand new spherical of negotiations (the Doha Spherical), aimed toward additional opening up of service sectors. The Doha Spherical works on the precept of “nothing is agreed till the whole lot is agreed”, implying that negotiations for all topics are to be concluded as part of a single package deal, and can’t be agreed upon piecemeal. Fortuitously, on account of sharp variations among the many WTO member states, particularly on points associated to agriculture, the Doha talks have stalled.[83]

Regardless of having no obligation underneath WTO guidelines, and stalled international commerce negotiations, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Authorities in August 2005 voluntarily provided to open 11 sectors and 94 sub-sectors to overseas buyers. This included greater training, the place overseas universities had been promised full entry to the Indian training market, and the identical therapy as that given to Indian universities—reflecting an over-eagerness to appease overseas pursuits.[84]

Opening Up Increased Schooling to International Universities

Amazingly, the Indian authorities started opening up the upper training sector to overseas companies even earlier than the Doha Spherical of WTO negotiations. In Might 2010, the UPA Authorities launched the International Academic Establishments (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Invoice (FEI Invoice) in Parliament. Nevertheless, on account of robust public opposition and resistance from the BJP and Left events, the invoice couldn’t be handed and lapsed with the dissolution of the fifteenth Lok Sabha.[85]

Satirically, although the BJP had vehemently opposed the FEI Invoice, it reversed its stance after coming to energy. Media experiences recommend that Prime Minister Modi took a private curiosity within the matter,[86] resulting in the NEP-2020 asserting the opening up of India’s greater training sector to overseas universities. It declared that India can be promoted as a worldwide research vacation spot, and “top quality overseas establishments” can be facilitated to function within the nation. It promised a legislative framework for this, in addition to norms on par with home autonomous establishments (Part 12.8).[87]

Regardless of this announcement, no overseas universities entered India, primarily as a result of rules required them to function as non-profit trusts and prohibited the repatriation of income.[88]

In November 2023, the UGC launched new rules that eliminated these obstacles, permitting overseas greater training establishments (FHEIs) to arrange a for-profit firm and repatriate income to their residence nation. The brand new guidelines give the overseas universities full freedom to do what they need. The UGC’s position is restricted to granting preliminary permission; it should don’t have any say in admissions (together with reservations), charge construction, school recruitment and salaries, curriculum, assessments or governance. There can be no accreditation or evaluation by any Indian physique. Whereas the NEP-2020 envisioned inviting solely chosen universities—particularly these among the many world’s prime 100—into India, the brand new rules successfully grant the UGC vast discretion in giving permissions, implying that lower-tier FHEIs can be allowed entry into India.[89]

It’s the first time that profit-making companies are being allowed to determine greater instructional establishments in India for revenue. Till now, Indian instructional establishments had been required to be run by non-profit trusts or societies, and any surplus needed to be reinvested in training.

Claims About Advantages of International Universities

The godi media is filled with reward for the brand new rules allowing FHEIs to enter India. Academicians and intellectuals are hailing the Modi Authorities’s determination, claiming it should enormously profit India’s greater training sector, by:

• increasing selections obtainable to college students;
• decreasing the necessity for college students to go overseas;
• rising competitors, thereby bettering high quality and effectivity of home HEIs; and
• setting worldwide benchmarks for high quality.

However the largest delusion is that greater training within the developed Western international locations is primarily within the personal sector. We first focus on this earlier than analysing the above talked about advantages of entry of FHEIs into India’s training sector.

Myths About Advantages of Entry of FHEIs

i) Increased Schooling within the Developed Nations

Opposite to well-liked perception, most developed Western international locations have strong public greater training techniques. Within the European Union, regardless of neoliberal pressures, round 80 p.c of scholars research in public establishments, and one other 5 p.c in publicly funded personal ones. Solely 15 p.c are in totally personal HEIs (2021 information).[90] Even within the USA—typically cited because the nation with probably the most privatised greater training system—over 77 p.c of scholars attend public universities. Even among the many personal HEIs, the bulk are non-profit. For-profit universities within the USA account for simply 5 p.c of complete scholar enrolment within the nation.[91]

Admittedly, the road between non-profit and for-profit can blur, with some non-profits successfully working for personal acquire. But, a number of prestigious US establishments like Harvard and Stanford genuinely observe philanthropic monetary support. At Harvard, as an illustration, 55 p.c of undergraduates obtain need-based scholarships. Households incomes under $85,000 pay no tuition, and people incomes between $85,000 and $150,000 contribute not more than 10 p.c of their earnings. Roughly 25 p.c of Harvard households have complete incomes lower than $85,000.[92]

One other main problem with greater training within the personal sector is that such establishments deal with programs for which college students are able to pay excessive charges, akin to engineering, administration and commerce, whereas neglecting social sciences, humanities and primary sciences—resulting in a skewed, unsustainable greater training panorama.

ii) FHEIs Will Develop Pupil Selections

However whose selections? International universities are going to enter India to make income, to not provide reasonably priced training. It is just after the UGC allowed for-profit overseas entities full autonomy in fee-setting and revenue repatriation that they’ve proven an curiosity in getting into India. Their charges can be prohibitively excessive—solely the kids of the super-rich will profit. Due to this fact, entry of FHEIs will enhance the alternatives for these college students solely. For the overwhelming majority of Indian college students who can’t afford the charges of even personal Indian HEIs, these establishments are going to supply no further alternative.

iii) FHEIs Will Cut back the Have to Research Overseas

PM Modi claimed in his 2024 Independence Day speech that the training reforms intention to eradicate the necessity for college students to go overseas to check.[93] However this misses the true problem going through our greater training system: the best way to make it simpler for our college students to entry greater training. India’s greater training GER is low—round 30 p.c—and much under international requirements. That is largely on account of insufficient public funding and rising charges, which has made greater training inaccessible for kids from the marginalised teams. Sadly, there is no such thing as a point out of this problem each within the Prime Minister’s speech and the NEP-2020.

iv) FHEIs Will Increase High quality By way of Competitors

It’s a delusion that competitors amongst personal establishments improves high quality. The very best universities on the earth—particularly in Europe—are all public. A UNESCO report says: “Non-state elite establishments are the rarest sort of non-state establishment. In most international locations, public universities benefit from the highest status.”[94] The USA is the one exception. It has a number of iconic personal universities like Harvard and MIT (it has many prestigious public universities too). However they’re all non-profit and philanthropic.[95] Assuming that international rankings are indicative of the standard, except these non-profit personal universities within the US, no different personal college on the earth options within the prime 300.[96]

Since for-profit HEIs search to maximise income, they typically interact in fraudulent practices. The UNESCO report cited above notes that personal for-profit HEIs have indulged in “misleading enterprise practices, together with predatory recruitment and fraudulent advertising and marketing methods.” Within the USA, 7 of the ten largest for-profit universities have been discovered to have indulged in such practices.[97]

India’s personal expertise additionally proves this. The very best greater training and analysis establishments in India—the IITs and IIMs, AIIMS, JNU, Delhi College, Indian Institute of Science, TIFR, BARC, ISRO and IUCAA—are all within the public sector. Whereas it’s true that a few of our public HEIs have seen a decline of their high quality in current instances, this is because of shrinking authorities funding and elevated ideological interference (we focus on this within the subsequent part). Due to this fact, what is required for bettering their high quality is extra funding and educational autonomy, fairly than handing over the sector to for-profit overseas gamers.

v) Entry of FHEIs Will Benchmark High quality

This declare assumes that top-tier overseas universities intend to enter India. However as famous earlier, most of those establishments are within the public sector and unlikely to open campuses overseas. Philip Altbach, the famend American educationist, observes:

Establishments utilizing the time period “American” and infrequently instructing in English are proliferating all through the creating world, joined lately by establishments with “German,” “French,” or “Canadian” of their names…. Many are sleazy recruiters, diploma packagers, low-end personal establishments looking for to stave off chapter by the export market …[98]

Due to this fact, it should solely be the lower-tier universities providing low high quality programmes that can be wanting to faucet into India’s massive market, benefiting from the lax rules.

It’s attainable that a couple of top-ranking universities could set up campuses in India. However as Altbach factors out, they are going to accomplish that primarily as a result of authorities funding cuts of their residence international locations are forcing them to enter overseas markets to make income. Due to this, even elite establishments have arrange devoted arms tasked with elevating funds from overseas. Nevertheless, as a Activity Pressure arrange collectively by the World Financial institution and UNESCO acknowledges, the offshore campuses of prestigious universities in creating international locations typically provide training of a lot decrease high quality than their guardian establishments.[99]

We conclude this dialogue on the myths surrounding overseas universities with a quote from J.B.G. Tilak, the eminent Indian educationist:

There is no such thing as a proof of any creating nation having prospered educationally or economically by counting on overseas universities. In actual fact, the proof is considerable to indicate that robust and vibrant greater training techniques are constructed primarily by the governments and with public funds.[100]

International Universities Setting Up Campuses in India

Information experiences say that a number of overseas universities are exploring prospects of organising campuses in India. Two Australian universities—Deakin College and the College of Wollongong—have already established campuses in Gujarat’s GIFT Metropolis, and the U.Okay.’s College of Southampton has executed so in Gurugram, close to Delhi. Philip Altbach, in a current article, factors out that these will not be prime colleges of their residence international locations, and expresses concern about their “disproportionate reliance on advertising and marketing methods—digital campaigns and branding workout routines—typically on the expense of educational funding.”[101]

That is globalisation in operation. Seven many years after we received our independence by the sacrifices of thousands and thousands of our folks, Delhi’s Moghuls are as soon as once more permitting overseas company armies to impudently enter the nation and trample over even our most sacred areas, the ‘conscience of the nation’, our universities.

Notes

81. For a extra detailed dialogue of this problem, see our publications: Neeraj Jain, Globalisation or Recolonisation?, Lokayat publication, October 2006, https://lokayat.org.in.
82. Ernesto Screpanti, World Imperialism and the Nice Disaster: The Unsure Way forward for Capitalism, pp. 109–113, https://books.google.co.in; Erik Wesselius, Behind GATS 2000: Company Energy at Work, Transnational Institute, Netherlands, 2002, http://www.tni.org.
83. Eva Cheng, “World Commerce Organisation: Agricultural Talks Enter Essential Stage”, Inexperienced Left Weekly, July 9, 2003, https://www.greenleft.org.au; Prabhat Patnaik, “Imperialism’s New Commerce-Negotiating Technique”, Individuals’s Democracy, Vol. XXXIX, No. 51, 27 December 2015, http://peoplesdemocracy.in.
84. J.B.G. Tilak, Commerce in Increased Schooling: The Position of the Normal Settlement on Commerce in Companies (GATS), UNESCO: Worldwide Institute for Academic Planning, Paris, 2011, p. 108, http://unesdoc.unesco.org.
85. J.B.G. Tilak, “Coverage Disaster in Increased Schooling: Reform or Deform?” Social Scientist, Vol. 38, Nos. 9–12, September–December 2010, p. 65, http://thechalkcorner.wordpress.com; Ritika Chopra, “PM Narendra Modi to Talk about Subject of Permitting International Universities to Set Up Campuses in India”, ET Bureau, June 9, 2015, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com.
86. Ritika Chopra, ibid.
87. NEP, op. cit., p. 39.
88. Debdutta Choudhury, “International Direct Funding (FDI) in Indian Increased Schooling: A New Starting”, 15 January 2025, https://weblog.efmdglobal.org.
89. Ibid.; “View: UGC Guidelines for International Universities in India Mark the Starting of For-Revenue Schooling within the Nation”, 12 January 2024, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com; Binoy Viswam, “Modi Govt’s Supply to International Universities to Set Up Campuses in India Not in Nationwide Curiosity”, 12 January 2023, https://www.nationalheraldindia.com; College Grants Fee (Organising and Operation of Campuses of International Increased Academic Establishments in India) Rules, 2023, https://www.ugc.gov.in.
90. College students Enrolled in Tertiary Schooling by Schooling Stage, Programme Orientation, Intercourse, Sort of Establishment and Depth of Participation, 12/12/2024, Eurostat (educ_uoe_enrt01), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat.
91. World Schooling Monitoring Report 2021/2: Non-State Actors in Schooling: Who Chooses? Who Loses?, UNESCO, 2021, p. 179, https://unesdoc.unesco.org; “COE – Undergraduate Enrollment”, Nationwide Middle for Schooling Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov.
92. Monetary Assist Truth Sheet, Harvard School, https://faculty.harvard.edu.
93. “PM Modi’s I-Day Speech 2024 Unveils Plan to Make India a High Schooling Hub …”, 15 August 2024, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
94. World Schooling Monitoring Report 2021/2: Non-State Actors in Schooling: Who Chooses? Who Loses?, op. cit., p. 164.
95. Lester M.M. Salamon (edited), The State of Nonprofit America, p. 138, 2012, http://books.google.co.in.
96. J.B.G. Tilak, “Non-public Increased Schooling in India”, Financial and Political Weekly, Vol. 49, No. 40, 4 October 2014, http://www.epw.in.
97. World Schooling Monitoring Report 2021/2: Non-State Actors in Schooling: Who Chooses? Who Loses?, op. cit., p. 173.
98. Philip G. Altbach, The Subprime Market & Worldwide Increased Schooling, 2008, http://www.cautbulletin.ca.
99. Angela C. de Siqueira, “The Regulation of Schooling By way of the WTO/GATS”, Journal for Vital Schooling Coverage Research, March 2005, http://firgoa.usc.es; J.B.G. Tilak, “Coverage Disaster in Increased Schooling: Reform or Deform?” op. cit., p. 66.
100. J.B.G. Tilak, “Coverage Disaster in Increased Schooling: Reform or Deform?” ibid., p. 67.
101. Philip G. Altbach and Eldho Mathews, “Growth in International College Department Campuses: Can They Ship High quality Schooling?”, 26 Might 2025, https://www.thehindu.com.

[Neeraj Jain is a social activist and writer. He is the convenor of Lokayat, an activist group based in Pune. He is also the editor of Janata Weekly, India’s oldest socialist magazine. He has authored several books, including Globalisation or Recolonisation?, Education Under Globalisation: Burial of the Constitutional Dream, Nuclear Energy: Technology from Hell, and most recently, Union Budgets 2014-24: An Analysis.]