Academicians oppose overseas campuses of foreign universities

Academicians here say that allowing foreign universities to set up their overseas campuses in India will not bring any good till they bring their faculties from their main campuses and conduct research of the same standard as in their parent institutions.

Reacting to Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) pleading in favour of encouraging foreign universities to set up their satellite campuses in Indian cities, academicians here say the government should allow the foreign universities, and that too reputed ones, to set up their centres only after conducting study and survey about performances of their overseas centres in other countries.

Assocham's argument is that the country does not higher educational institutions matching the foreign universities' standard it was resulting into Indian students going to other countries for higher education. This caused huge transfer of wealth from India and if Assocham is to believed, Indian students going abroad cost the country foreign exchange equivalent to Rs 95,000 crore annually.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Gujarat Technological University (GTU) Vice-Chancellor Akshay Aggarwal said the foreign universities were not known to send teachers from their main campuses to overseas centres and also did not conduct research work.

Aggarwal, who has worked with Canadian universities and also recruited faculty for their centres in Egypt said practice of these universities is to hire local teachers or arrange visiting faculty from the existing institutions on a higher salary. Moreover, foreign universities also charged fees twice or thrice of the local institutions.

"Instead of bringing any good to higher education, their poaching of faculty by paying higher salaries will severely hit the higher educational institutions in India," said Aggarwal.

"If they are allowed entry in India, they should conduct research of the same quality as in their main centres," he said, adding, "they should not come as mere teaching shops".

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