In this session, our panellists will explore whether it is worthwhile for India to pursue world-class but below the absolute top foreign higher education institutions (FHEIs). With absolute enrollment numbers reaching approximately 43.3 million —a significant 18% increase over five years—India faces a critical decision: Should the focus be on expanding undergraduate education, or is there a greater need for postgraduates to address the gaps in research and higher education faculty? One of the key questions is whether facilitating FHEI campuses in India will attract more international students—currently around 46,000 —or help retain the 750,000 Indian students who went abroad for their studies in 2022 . Additionally, what role can these foreign campuses play in enhancing higher education in India? Will they contribute to increasing the gross enrolment rate, which stands at 28.4% for the 18-23 age group? Do the concerns regarding the impact on the national educational landscape voiced in 2010 remain? If not, what has changed?

Join us on 26 September 2024, 7 PM, at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, as we invite a group of leading educators, education policy, and industry experts to delve into these questions and more.

 

Panellists:

Alison Barrett (Director India, British Council)

Nathaniel Webb (First Secretary, Education and Research, Australian High Commission)

Richard (Dickie) McCallum (CEO of the UK India Business Council)

Prof. Ananya Mukherjee (Vice-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, Delhi-NCR, and former Provost of the University of British Columbia)

Manjula Rao (Independent Education Consultant)

Moderator:

Shashank Vira (Managing Partner, Hearth Advisors)

A study led by Jo Johnson and Shashank Vira for the Harvard Kennedy School and the Policy Institute at King’s College London suggests that the UK government should make a comprehensive knowledge partnership with India one of the main goals of a proposed free trade agreement between the two countries.

“The UK needs to deploy its knowledge assets – notably its universities and its research base – in a more strategic way with India, by making a ‘comprehensive knowledge partnership’ the centrepiece of a post-Brexit UK-India free trade agreement,” Mr Johnson, a former universities minister, said.

The report proposes several reforms to bolster the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of the UK’s position in international education, reduce dependencies on China, and drive out fraud and abuse that threaten the integrity of the UK visa system.