A teachers’ body at Delhi University (DU) on Friday cited the lack of reservation and regulation on campuses of foreign universities in India and opposed the government’s decision to welcome more overseas institutions to set up bases in India.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday announced that eight more UK universities would set up campuses in India. The University of Southampton has already opened a campus in Gurgaon.
Academics for Action and Development Teachers’ Association (AADTA) member Seema Das said the outfit opposed the University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campus of Foreign Higher Education Institutions into India) Regulations, which allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
Das said the regulations convert educational institutions into commercial enterprises, elitist enclaves and distant from Indian socio-economic-cultural problems.
Under UGC regulations, the foreign universities can decide their course syllabus, duration, fees and salary. They are allowed to make a profit and repatriate the surplus amount to their parent institutions. The provision of reservation does not apply to these institutions.
“This is a reactivation of the ‘drain theory’, by which these educational East India Companies will try to plunder the vast education sector. Social justice concerns have been totally ignored, which is very important in our context as higher education is a very effective means for social change,” Das said.
She said the UGC had opened the doors for foreign universities, not for the welfare of students, but to act like coaching institutes.
Das said there was no provision for elected representatives in the governing body of the foreign institutions’ campuses. Similarly, there is no provision for fee concessions for needy students.
“The loopholes are so wide that they can easily be misused by substandard and fly-by-night operators to gain entry. If a foreign institution fails in its operations, how will the UGC take care of students studying in these institutions? There is no mechanism and time span available for redress of grievances for students as well as teaching and nonteaching staff,” she said.
Another faculty member, who did not wish to be identified, said that foreign university campuses would recruit reputed faculty members from public-funded institutions by offering them high salaries.
“The government pays fixed salaries to faculty members. The foreign universities will mainly recruit reputed faculty members from the public-funded institutions. As a result, the public institutions will suffer,” he said.