It will be good for aspiring students to study in premier institutes of the world without leaving their homeland

It is a well-established fact that India is essentially a welfare state and has shown exemplary commitments for inclusive development. Apart from reservation in education and employment, India has been successfully implementing several other welfare measures aimed at raising the quality of lives of the underprivileged sections of the society.

The Narendra Modi Government has added many new schemes to the kitty of welfare measure bonanza. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Shramew Jayate Yojana, Atal Pension Yojna, Gramoday Se Bharat Uday are only a few to name. Such schemes have ensured that the poor sleep under a roof with at least a square meal. The education sector is no exception to this trajectory of development.

Students of all levels from the underprivileged sections of society enjoy reservations in admissions to various

professional and traditional programs of study, apart from enjoying various types of scholarships and fellowships. People from such sections have also been beneficiaries

of reservations in teaching and non-teaching recruitments. While such reservations and facilities have ensured inclusivity, the net impact of these in the quality of education is a point worthy of serious discourse.

Some sections of the academia, especially in the Modi era, are strategically engaged in a debate detrimental to the Indian learning ecosystem. Today’s youth live in the era of 4.0 Version of Education which is outcome-based and can be realised through quality education only.

Moreover, we urgently need to develop global competencies in our learners to empower them with skills to face the challenges of the highly uncertain and volatile future that 21st Century has in store for them.

A recent case in point is the draft document of the University Grants Commission on ‘Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India Regulations’. This regulation stipulates a standard operating procedure for maintaining and operating campuses in India by the top 500 foreign universities. A major bone of contention in this context is the lack of provision for social equity especially with regard to reservations  to the underprivileged.

Moreover, it is alleged that such campuses will essentially serve the cause of the effluent sections of Indian society. However, even if only some so-called upper sections of the social strata were beneficiaries of the education system prevailing from the dawn of the Indic civilization, the majority of them were as poor as the others, and they got enlightenment under extreme poverty in thatched huts in forests, strictly adhering to the doctrine of ‘Less is More’. They created a plethora of doctrines of a supreme quality, such as the Vedas and the Upanishad, which have relevance across time and space.

If human civilization progresses along the contours of these doctrines, its longevity, quality, vitality and health can be ensured. The moot questions, thus, are: Can we recapitulate and recapture this supreme quality in sharpening minds for the creation of abstract knowledge again? Should we not desist from criticism and downplaying of such policies which aim

at restoring much-needed universal quality in education? Should we not exclude such policies from the basket of policies in vogue for the uplift of the underprivileged sections?

Why should affluent sections from our own society be deprived from access to quality education merely on the grounds that the underprivileged sections will be left behind? The quality bars and the rigorous process of recruitment of faculty and staff, pay-package and amenities, admission criteria, infrastructure, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment tools, skill development and campus placement initiatives, etc., on such campuses should be similar to the main campus of foreign universities. These campuses should be allowed to offer new-age programmes only.

It will be good for aspiring students to study in premier institutes of the world without leaving their homeland  This may also work as a stimulus to Indian institutions.

Moreover, this may also discourage our youth from studying abroad at an exorbitant cost and will eventually halt currency, brain and cultural drain. Lastly, the argument that our youth will fall prey to foreign culture in these campuses holds no water as the all-encompassing Sanatan culture is robust enough to embrace all other cultures and yet maintain its unique traits.

After all, one of our cultural traits is ‘Aano Bhadra Kritvo Yantu Vishwatah’. In essence, this regulation will facilitate the fusion of learning systems of the East and the West in Modi’s India and pave the path for the internationalization of education—one of the key elements of New Education Policy or NEP2020.

(The author is Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda)