This Article First Appeared In Indian Express On March 11, 2023
India is the youngest nation in the world with a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of 57.6 per cent (UDISE, 2021-22) at the senior secondary level and 27.3 per cent at the higher education level (AISHE, 2020-21). Education being a public good in India, strict regulatory frameworks were put in place to prevent the entry of foreign universities. It is worth recalling that the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill under UPA-II could not see the light of day and lapsed in 2014. Interestingly, less than a decade after its demise and within three years of the announcement of the National Education Policy 2020, two Australian universities are set to open their branch campuses in GIFT City, Gujarat. The author had hinted in an article in this newspaper ( ‘Opening the campus door’, IE, January 7) that Australian universities would be the most likely candidates for setting up international branch campuses in India.