UK should ‘push’ university partnerships in India, says minister

Increased partnerships between Indian and UK universities could be a “game changer” for both countries, a British government minister has said. 

Speaking at the UK India Education Conference in London, Gareth Thomas, the UK’s minister for small business, services and exports, said “trying to encourage more links between UK universities and Indian universities is something we need to do”. 

“There are the beginnings of some fruitful partnerships, but it feels like very early days,” he said. “One of the things we need to do in government is give that more of a push and encourage people to look with more interest at those partnerships with India, and I think that’s potentially a game changer for both UK universities and Indian universities.”

It follows plans by a handful of British universities to establish campuses in India, including the University of Southampton, which was the first to receive approval from Indian regulators last year. The Russell Group institution will open a new campus on the outskirts of Delhi later this year. 

Thomas described Southampton’s plans as “very significant” and added that there was a lot of “untapped potential” in Gujarat, where some British universities are also planning to set up branch campuses. 

The trade relationship between India and the UK is worth about £42 billion, which “given the pace at which India’s economy is growing” feels “quite small”, he added. “We need to be a bit more ambitious as a country in offering our services, our expertise, our imagination to the different states in India.”

The UK is currently negotiating a free trade deal with India. Talks had started under the previous Conservative government and have recently relaunched under the current Labour government.

“I think there’s a lot more we can do in terms of international education,” the minister said. “A lot more countries want to get international players into setting up and operating in their countries and we’ve got to seize that opportunity.”

Speaking at the same event, organised by the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK, representatives from British universities urged regulators, including England’s Office for Students, to allow flexibility to support the development of equitable and sustainable international partnerships.

“We need to make our regulators much more aware that it’s very different when you’re developing equitable partnerships across borders,” said Anton Muscatelli, principal of the University of Glasgow. 

“If we are serious about making education part of that deeper relationship between our countries…regulators can’t just sit to the side and say, ‘Well, this is how higher education works in the UK.’”

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Given the “closeness” of the India UK relationship, current shifts in global trade relationships could be a “real opportunity” for regulators to work with government to look at the areas where they can “ensure regulation isn’t the barrier” to growth, Muscatelli said.

In recent weeks, the UK government has called on regulators in key industries to be less risk-averse and to help foster an environment of innovation. 

“We’ve been hearing an awful lot from the UK government around ‘How do you regulate for growth?’” said Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International. “I think that means being proportionate, being risk-based and actually having trust in the organisations and institutions that are delivering the service.

“But to do that and to build that trust, I think there’s a job we have to do in the higher education sector,” he said. “How do we ensure that government understands that we are part of the solution, not part of the problem?  

“I think for too long in the UK there’s been a narrative that actually we are a problem to be fixed and not a solution.” He said universities need to better articulate to the government how they can support the UK’s economic growth. 

On the India side, the government is proactively “trying to have less regulations” to give universities more autonomy, said Vinay Pathak, president of the Association of Indian Universities and vice-chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University. 

When looking for partnerships, he urged British universities to consider relationships with tier two and three Indian universities, not just the top ones, which are “already overloaded”.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com