Do we need to rethink inviting foreign universities to set up campuses In Kerala?
In the Budget 2024, it was hinted that the CPM government in Kerala was inclined to invite foreign universities to establish campuses in the State. This was a significant deviation from the CPM politburo view that has been opposed to foreign universities in India. The Budget speech of the Kerala Finance Minister stated “The foreign universities will be set up in accordance with the new UGC (University Grants Commission) guidelines, without compromising on the principles of transparency and equality. Components such as single-window clearance for all required recognitions, relaxation in stamp duty/ transfer duty/ registration charges, subsidised water and electricity, tax relaxation and investment subsidy on capital will be part of the policy.”
The decision is seen as an attempt to attract foreign investment in higher education while encouraging the state’s youth to pursue higher studies in Kerala. A study by the Kerala State Higher Education Council reveals that nearly 1.32 million students from India went abroad for studies in 2022, of which 4 per cent were from Kerala. To prevent the exodus of students, the government has decided to set up a task force of academic experts, which would conduct four regional conclaves in May-June 2024 in Europe, United States, Gulf countries and Singapore for attracting foreign universities to the state. The Higher Education Transformation Initiative Global Conclave is also due to be held in the state in August.
The sudden eruption of mass agitations across the United States focussing on the conflict in Gaza, has alerted the world about the kind of havoc foreign students can create on any campus. Temporary tents have sprung up at various colleges such as Columbia, Yale, and New York University. Police and other enforcement agencies have intervened at multiple campuses to detain agitating students. Authorities, including school administrators and local law enforcement, have taken a tough stance against the protests. University officials explained their decision to request police intervention, citing the failure of protesters to disperse and their interference with the safety and security of the community. The agitations have gripped over 30 top American universities, and more than 2000 protesters have been arrested, to date.
While student agitations on political issues are not new in Kerala, protests and agitations involving foreign students can be a dicey proposition. Shades of antisemitism, and Islamophobia, as is happening in US universities, can be complicated to handle, and could even ignite communal riots. Already, there are many institutions in India, where a sprinkling of foreign students are present, mostly from Malaysia and other SAARC countries. According to the Association of African Students in India (AASI), there are about 25,000 African students enrolled in about 500 Indian public and private universities, with Sudan and Nigeria among the top five contributors of foreign students to India.
Students are also there from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Burundi and they opt to study at institutions in India because tuition fees are more affordable. The major problem faced by these students is the colour prejudice prevalent across India. Prejudice, discrimination and racism against Africans is a common complaint of African students. Will Keralites welcome a large presence of Africans on campuses?
Another disturbing factor is the involvement of African nationals in drug trafficking rackets across India. Many Africans who come on student visas, are not keen on learning, but indulge in peddling drugs, in order to have a comfortable living. Already, Kerala has an unmanageable drug problem. The presence of a large crowd of young foreigners is likely to worsen the problem. Already a Congress MP from Punjab has gone on record alleging that African students studying in Punjab universities and colleges are indulging in drug peddling. He pointed especially at students coming from Nigeria. He has also written a letter to the Prime Minister, demanding the formation of a joint strategy, by central and state governments to handle the problem. The MP has stated that “It is a matter of record that hundreds of African students have been arrested in Punjab, in the last many years for supplying drugs. There is a need to develop a comprehensive strategy to counter this problem on a war footing and the central government needs to play a proactive role in this process”. Is Kerala geared up to face the challenge of foreign students indulging in drug peddling?
The Asian countries of Nepal, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, occupy the top three positions in terms of the number of international students in India. But, a disturbing development is that the number of overseas students enrolled in Indian higher education institutions fell by 2.6% in the last two years from 49,348 in 2019/20 to 48,035 in 2020/21 according to data published by All India Survey on Higher Education,
Out of this number around 15,000 in 2021 were African nationals, according to the Association of African Students in India (AASI). The drop was attributed to a lack of employment opportunities for international students who have graduated from Indian universities, unlike in European and North American destinations, and Australia, where they are free to work for a specified period, after completion of studies.
Another dimension to the problem is that many existing Indian universities are planning to open campuses on the African continent, the Middle East, Thailand and Vietnam. IIT Delhi is considering setting up a campus in UAE, and IIT Madras is exploring options in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Tanzania. IIT campuses are also in the pipeline in Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and the UK. This would mean that the expected inflow of foreign students and foreign campuses might not happen in feasible proportions.
The National Education Policy 2020 has envisioned that “top universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India.” For this, “a legislative framework facilitating such entry has been in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.”
The University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations on Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India have been framed to allow the entry of higher-ranked Foreign Universities to provide an international dimension to Higher Education, to enable Indian students to obtain foreign qualifications at affordable cost and make India an attractive global study destination.
Though the UGC has clarified that foreign universities will have full freedom to decide the fee structure and admission criteria for both Indian and overseas students. They will also get a free hand in hiring faculty, either from India or abroad, and will not be expected to mandatorily follow reservation policies in admissions and employment. The CPI party has said that imposing such a policy on the states would be anti-federal and an infringement on their sovereign rights. The CPI has called upon all students' and teachers' organisations to resist this retrograde and exclusionary step.
The Kerala government is likely to impose restrictions. According to the Kerala State Higher Education Council, the State government can intervene in the course structure, academic standards, fee structure, exam pattern, and deny recognition to the certificates of those entities not adhering to the instructions. Students would be in a disadvantageous position if the State government is at loggerheads with the Central government and the UGC.
What would happen if the foreign students started agitating as is now happening in the USA? From all available indications, the take-off is not going to be smooth. Would it not be wiser and wait to see how the Private universities are going to fare? Anyway, foreign universities, especially those coming from the West, will certainly not rush in where Angels fear to tread, and will uncompromisingly demand their pound of flesh.
(The author is former Director General of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics)