Edu-leaders

So, it seems that everyone is waiting for the Foreign-based Education Providers (FEP) Bill that is expected to transform our higher education, and usher in the world’s best. But, will it? If implemented in its present form, the Bill will do little to change the status quo.

Though our government has discouraged foreign institutions from awarding degrees in India, over hundred overseas universities are active through “collaborations” with Indian private educators. Ideally, this Bill should enable the government to regulate these “collaborations”, and courses being dumped on hapless students with a foreign tag.

But, the FEP Bill gives the government authority to revoke the university status of a foreign provider (much in the way the 44 deemed universities were recently “de-recognised”) and asks for a hefty corpus—the current version proposes Rs 100 million, but it is rumoured that it the corpus could well end up being Rs 500 million. This is a significant commitment, and works well as a curb. But, it does little to inspire confidence, especially since the Bill goes on to suggest that this corpus is really a security deposit in case a university’s status is revoked. Thirdly, the Bill states that the foreign providers are welcome to invest, but cannot repatriate any surpluses generated from their Indian operations. Expecting a Bill that has provisions to curb and control the bottom-rung players, to also enable the top-ranked universities enter India, is like asking someone to run with shackles around his feet.

The truth is that, financially speaking, the best overseas universities are going through a tough time. Endowments shrank by an average of 60 percent in the economic downturn. State funding is still being reduced. Salaries are being cut, and programmes are being shuttered. Even the best are in no position to invest the “modest” millions, let alone do it with zero returns. The economic proposition, as it stands in the current Bill, will prove to be a show-stopper. Unless we solve this, the much-touted queue of the world’s top universities lining up to enter India, will remain just a dream.

Dr Pramath Raj Sinha
pramath@edu-leaders.com