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Liberalization before Globalization, Level Playing Field

We have reputed universities like IIMs/IITs. The government has taken the right decision in starting a few more. However, more important is that we should allow new private universities and give them same autonomy & freedom that the foreign universities are seeking.

We need to allow these universities to grow, and be able to compete internationally. We have seen that given the right environment, Indian universities can compete globally. One prime example is the Indian School of Business at Hyderabad. Within a span of less than a decade, the school became a top-20 school globally as per Financial Times report.

We need to provide more autonomy to IIMs and IITs. Recently, the IIM-A director Dr. Sameer Barua, expressed concern about the lack of autonomy provided to IIMs and IITs. Let these Institutes decide on the faculty salaries, infrastructure, and courses. Why stifle them, and then allow the foreign universities in to 'gulp' them? Let the playing field be level before you allow foreign universities to India. By allowing foreign universities at this juncture, (when our economy is better than a decade back), we are also stifling our ability to have world-class university like Harvard or MIT of our own. How fair is it to allow foreign universities to have no reservation and stifle our universities with reservation quotas?

Why Governments in US, UK are Now Pushing for Opening up the Higher Education Sector

Each year about 90,000-100,000 students go to US only, and many of them decide to stay there. US and UK governments are facing flak because of high immigration which is increasing their population and straining their infrastructure. Recent measures by these governments show that, these countries are trying to curb immigration from countries like India. UK for example is reviewing the student visa system which will make rules stricter for overseas students. The new points based system would ensure that only top brains from countries like India are allowed to stay in UK. However, universities in US and UK need Indian students to survive. The only way to have "best of both worlds." is to set up their own campuses in India, conduct their profitable courses, and rake in the dollars converted from rupees!!

I have strong reservations about allowing foreign universities at a point when economy is gaining steam, when we are gaining the ability to invest in higher education, when our local universities are propping up their heads, and when private players are willing to invest in higher education. However, if for some reasons, foreign universities are allowed, I suggest the following steps be undertaken before allowing foreign universities to operate in India.

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Dr. Parthasarathi Mohapatra completed his Ph. D. in Business Administration from University of Kentucky in 2005. He has worked as Asst. Professor at Morgan State University. Currently, he is teaching at University of Maryland-University College. He has published in several international journals and presented in international conferences.
E mail: PMohapatra@faculty.umuc.edu