FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: Kapil Sibal categorically asserted that the Foreign Education Bill makes sense (with certain regulations). The Foreign Education Bill, if passed, will allow 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in universities. As Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal told this paper earlier that "...foreign institutions should also be entitled to invest in education within a regulated framework. (However), these should not be for profit enterprises to subsidise education abroad".
Sibal made a valid point but the challenge is to get a consensus and get the Bill passed. Incidentally, not only will the move bring in foreign exchange but it will also entice more Indian students to stay back in India for higher education. Even 50,000 foreign students charged fees at an average rate of $10,000 per annum would yield $500 million (around Rs 2,800 crore) per annum, according to National Knowledge Commission (NKC).
There’s another lucrative side to the story too which is, perhaps, more significant. It’s estimated that around 160,000 students from India are studying abroad. If their average expenditure on fees and maintenance is $25,000 per student per year, Indian students are spending around $4 billion per annum. Many of these students may want to study in India since the costs would be lower.
PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP: He’s convinced that the private public partnership (PPP) model in higher education is the way to go. Now he has to ensure that his plans are executed.
DEEMED VARSITIES: He has undertaken to stem malpractices in ‘deemed universities’ by already freezing new applications. The challenge is to ensure that the issue is not swept under the carpet simply because some 'deemed universities' are run by politicians and their relatives.
REVISE IITs/IIMs CURRICULUM: He has suggested that the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) should revise their curriculum. He must take the IIT/IIM directors into confidence so that the exercise improves the quality of education.
ABOLISH UGC/AICTE: He believes that regulatory bodies (read bureaucratic bottlenecks which lead to corruption) like the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) should be — as recommended by the NKC and Yashpal Committee reports — abolished and replaced by an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE). The challenge lies in getting Parliament to pass this.
