Top Foreign Universities May Soon Have An Offshore Campus In India

The Managing Director and CEO of QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Nunzio Quacquarelli, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. QS is a British firm that specializes in studying higher education institutions all over the world.

“Had a productive meeting with Mr Nunzio Quacquarelli, the Managing Director and CEO of QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd,” Modi stated while sharing a photo from the meeting. “We chatted for a long time about issues concerning schooling.”

QS Quacquarelli Symonds is the organization that releases the yearly QS University Rankings and Indian Universities generally perform well in this rating system. In a related development, top Indian institutes, including the IITs, have rejected QS’ competitor Times Higher Education (THE) Rating, citing a lack of openness in their ranking matrix.

The Modi government hopes to invite the top 100 QS World Ranking institutions to create International campuses in India as part of the National Education Policy (NEP). It also proposes that Indian educational institutes establish offshore campuses. The National Education Policy 2020 aims to bring in foreign nationals as well as ensure that talented Indian students’ study in the Indian universities.

The discussion between PM Modi and Quacquarelli took place at a time when India is working to establish itself as a study abroad location, particularly in technological and cultural education.

In the academic year 2019-20, a total of 49,348 international students have enrolled in India. This is up from 47,427 students who chose India as their study destination the previous year. The majority of students that choose to study in India are guys. BTech is the most popular course, followed by medical. BTech has 9,503 international students, followed by BSc with 3964 and BBA with 3290 international students.

With 10,231 international students, Karnataka has the highest number of international students. Apart from Karnataka, AISHE data shows that Uttar Pradesh (5,089), Punjab (4,966), Maharashtra (4,599), Tamil Nadu (4,461), Delhi (2,345), Haryana (2,321), Telangana (2,261), Gujarat (2,227), and Andhra Pradesh (2,094) each have over 2,000 international students.

Both the leaders had a discussion at a time when India is attempting to position itself as an international study destination. Under the initiatives of the NEP, the Modi government aims to encourage the top 100 QS World Ranking institutions to establish foreign campuses in India. Also, it recommends that Indian educational institutions open campuses in other countries.