The universities have been asked to set up an international affairs office with a view to expanding the global outreach of Indian higher education in line with NEP 2020

International affairs offices of Indian varsities will promote ‘Brand India’

The universities have been asked to set up an international affairs office with a view to expanding the global outreach of Indian higher education in line with NEP 2020

25.01.2021 

Rajlakshmi.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

In its efforts to boost internalisation of higher education, the UGC has directed all universities to set up office for international affairs, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the Promotion of Indian Higher Education Abroad (PIHEA) committee that was set up in 2004, to promote India as a global study hub. “UGC’s capacity building initiative to promote ‘Brand India’ aims at encouraging internationalisation, in keeping with NEP 2020,” says Bhushan Patwardhan, vice chairman, UGC.

Affordable degrees

While short duration courses under ‘Study in India’ campaign have attracted foreign students from developed nations, it is time to prepare Indian universities to host international students for long term degrees as well. “India can provide world-class affordable education even in STEM and a dedicated international affairs office can drive home that point. Just as innovation centres boost entrepreneurship across campuses, the international affairs office would undertake a whole host of activities including international admissions and hostel facilities, foreign student orientation and faculty preparedness,” Patwardhan adds.

He calls for student mobility on Indian campuses for economic, socio-economic and geopolitical reasons to “create a multicultural ecosystem that can give the stimulus for scholarship and innovation”.

Key facilitator of research collaborations

The UGC directive, says Rama Shankar Dubey, vice chancellor, Central University of Gujarat, has come at the right juncture, though internationalisation of higher education, can only be achieved “with upgradation of the curriculum as per the global standards”. “An international cell in every university can enlighten the foreign students about the quality of education being imparted while helping universities compete at the global level.”

NEP 2020, according to Dubey, envisages promoting multidisciplinary education involving major and minor courses from across disciplines. The university’s international affairs office can ensure more foreign collaborations towards that end.

“NEP 2020 mandates deploying the National Research Foundation at the apex level to monitor and mentor the quality of research in the country and promote collaborations with foreign institutions. The international affairs office can be a nodal centre at the university level to facilitate such research collaborations,” adds Dubey.