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Premier higher educational institutes should expand campuses abroad: Panel
Premier higher educational institutions in the country should look to expand their campuses abroad, a government-constituted committee has recommended and pitched for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to take the lead on this front
New Delhi: Premier higher educational institutions in the country should look to expand their campuses abroad, a government-constituted committee has recommended and pitched for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to take the lead on this front, officials familiar with the development said.
Tasked to prepare a framework for Indian universities to set up campuses abroad, the 16-member committee — headed by the chairman of standing committee of IIT council, K Radhakrishnan — was constituted by the Union education ministry after IIT-Delhi submitted a proposal last year for opening centres in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
According to ministry officials, the committee has recently submitted its draft report on “structure for opening campuses abroad by higher education institutions”.
The committee has strongly supported the idea that country’s top institutes establish “residential campuses” abroad and the ministry of external affairs and the Indian envoys facilitate the process, said a senior ministry official, requesting anonymity.
“Discussions are underway on the draft recommendations submitted by the committee. It is recommended either to allow individual institutes to set up their campuses abroad or to do that in collaboration with other institutes or universities in India or in the host country,” the official said. “There is discussion that the top IITs may take the lead and start the expansion process.”
There were also discussions on multiple modes of admissions. The panel has recommended that the existing Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) format for admissions to undergraduate courses be adopted and to consider SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) scores for admissions, the official said.
“The panel has also identified several areas in which the courses can be offered in these satellite campuses,” said another official from the ministry, also wishing not to be named. “It has also been suggested to start with postgraduate courses first and then move to five-year integrated programmes.”
While the proposal of IIT-Delhi is still pending with the ministry, IIT-Madras has also placed its proposal to set up a satellite campus in Tanzania before the committee for consideration, officials said. A senior official at the IIT-Bombay said, “Once the ministry assigned a country to us for mentoring, we will swing into action with the help of the MEA.”
In line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the University Grants Commission (UGC) in January 2021 amended its regulations and allowed the Institutions of Eminence (IoEs), including IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Madras, IIT-Bombay, Delhi University, and Banaras Hindu University, to set up campuses abroad after prior approval of the ministry of education and no-objection certificates from the ministry of external affairs and ministry of home affairs.
Following the amendment, IIT-Delhi submitted its proposal to set up campuses in UAE and Egypt. In the light of these developments, the 16-member panel was constituted. The panel also comprises directors of seven IITs — Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Madras, Kanpur, Guwahati, and Dhanbad — and the vice chancellors (VCs) of four central universities — Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Banaras Hindu University and University of Hyderabad. The director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, is also a member of the committee.
