In what would give a big boost to the higher education sector, the Centre has opened the doors for foreign universities to set up their campuses in India with the regulator UGC on Thursday unveiling the draft norms for their establishment and operations.
The draft rules of the University Grants Commission mentioned that such foreign universities would be able to decide their admission process and fee structure and also repatriate their funds to their originating country. They will also have the autonomy to recruit faculty and staff from India and abroad as per their recruitment norms.
As per the Centre’s nod, there will be two categories of foreign institutions eligible to apply for setting up their campuses in India---the universities that have secured a position within the top 500 of overall or subject-wise global ranking or a reputed institution in its home jurisdiction.
UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said the foreign universities with campuses in the country can only offer full-time programmes in offline mode and not online or distance learning and every time they set up their campus they will have to take permission from UGC.
The UGC announced the draft regulations for ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India’ and the final norms will be notified by the end of the month after considering feedback from all stakeholders. While these universities will have the freedom to decide their admission criteria and fee structure, the commission has advised keeping the fees “reasonable and transparent”.
“The new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 had envisioned that top universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India. For this, a legislative framework facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India,” Kumar said.
The initial approval will be for 10 years and will be renewed in the ninth year subject to the meeting of certain conditions, he added and clarified that these institutions shall not offer any such study programme which jeopardize the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India. “The regulatory framework allowing the entry of higher-ranked foreign varsities will provide an international dimension to higher education, enable Indian students to obtain foreign qualifications at affordable cost, and make India an attractive global study destination, “ the UGC chairman said.
On matters related to funds and funding, he said that the cross-border movement of funds will be according to the Foreign Exchange Management Act. “Cross-border movement of funds and maintenance of Foreign Currency Accounts, mode of payments, remittance, repatriation, and sale of proceeds, if any, shall be as per FEMA, 1999. An audit report shall be submitted annually to the commission certifying that the operations of the FHEIs in India are in compliance with the Act and related rules,” he said.