The proposed Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill-2010 to permit foreign players into India's higher education system poses a threat to the state run universities in the country, say the experts.
“The foreign universities which are financially sound will come with better infrastructure which is lacking in the state run varsities. Inviting foreign universities will be like invading the country intellectually,” said P T Chande, President, Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Vice Chancellor of Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya-Ramtek (Maharashtra).
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of East Zone Vice Chancellors' Meeting-2011 of AIU hosted by KIIT University here, Chande said the foreign universities, which are eyeing India to expand their business, may not necessarily impart quality higher education.
He said, these foreign universities will poach the faculty of the state institutions which are already grappling with the dearth of teaching staff both in quality and quantity.
About 80-90 per cent of the state universities have faculty strength of 50 per cent or less and the Central government is adopting a step motherly attitude in allocating funds to the state varsities, he added. The conference was inaugurated by state higher education minister.