Foreign universities will set up their campuses in India very soon to provide quality education, which, by our own admission, hasn’t been provided at the country’s very own public and private universities. The logic the University Grants Commission has given is that the move would save the parents/students a lot of money that otherwise has been going to foreign lands. The UGC guidelines, that have been circulated for feedback, say that the UGC will regulate the foreign universities that have been barred from offering online courses. Only full-time courses are allowed. The guidelines have been receiving a mixed response from academic and political circles.

Considering that this decision will be executed, it is time we scrutinised our existing higher (lower) education. As compared to global average, India spends much less on education, and whatever it has spent so far, has not yielded desired results. Exceptions are some top notch public and private institutes that excel in professional streams such as engineering, technology, medicine and management. They have produced students who have made the country proud. They will continue to do so in the future as well. Their success lies in a workstyle that is not entirely parallel to the government-run or government-aided ones. The government-run ones are entirely the state/Centre’s responsibility while the aided ones get salary and non-teaching grants from the governments.