Branch campuses could help India revive ancient status as world teacher

Last December, government officials reported that a record 72,218 international students had registered to study at Indian universities for the 2024-25 academic year, up from 34,774 in 2014-15. This 108 per cent increase was attributed to the government’s flagship Study in India (SII) initiative, launched in 2018 and upgraded in 2023 after the Covid-19 pandemic.

SII is an ambitious multi-ministerial effort led by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (which is responsible for education), with the support of the ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Commerce. It is part of India’s broader push for the internationalisation of its higher education sector, as prescribed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

To that end, the government has approved regulations to allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India and for Indian universities to offer twinning, joint-degree, or dual-degree programmes with foreign universities. Today, the University of Surrey became the latest UK institution to unveil plans for an Indian campus, this one in the Gift City special economic zone in Gujarat, where Australia's Deakin University and the University of Wollongong have already opened outposts. Surrey’s announcement follows similar statements of intent in recent weeks from Queen’s University Belfast (which will also operate in the low-regulation Gift City), from Western Sydney University and from the universities of Leicester and Southampton.

The SII initiative’s primary objective is “branding India as an attractive education destination”. As the external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar, noted at the launch of the SII portal in 2023, the aim is to make India “a hub of global education” by attracting students from around the world and establish “a strong international footprint of brand India in the education sphere”.

But if such commercial jargon sounds familiar to Western ears, it is important to understand that India’s primary rationale for attracting international students quite different from that of countries such as the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. It is not to prop up Indian universities financially amid declining domestic student numbers or government funding. Rather, it is to project and enhance India’s claim to be a vishwaguru: a “teacher to the world”

The current Indian government, led by Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi since 2014, has repeatedly described India as a vishwaguru, with “a unique mission in the world and unique wisdom to convey”. This has involved drawing attention to India’s achievements, both in the present – such as its fast-growing economy and military power – and in the ancient past, notably in terms of the contributions to knowledge made by universities such as those at Takshashila, Nalanda and Vikramshila, which attracted students from far and wide beyond the Indian subcontinent.

India’s goal to increase international student intake is therefore tied to the larger objective of recreating India’s ancient status as a knowledge centre. As stated in NEP 2020, the overall goal is to promote India “as a global study destination providing premium education at affordable costs, thereby helping to restore its role as a Vishwa Guru.”

As of now, however, there is a large gap between India’s stated aspiration and ground realities. India’s less than 75,000 international students, mostly from neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, contrasts with China’s more than 250,000 full-time international students from Asia and beyond. Getting to those kinds of numbers will require concerted effort and smart policies.

There are two main challenges for India. First, it is imperative for the government to stay on track and show a long-term commitment to the SII initiative. In the recent past, it has been known to lose interest in some of its own initiatives. For example, the government’s plans to support the emergence of world-class universities – the Institutions of Eminence initiative of 2017 – started with much fanfare but seems to have been all but abandoned now.

Second, India’s universities will have to raise their game as well and improve the quality of education to become attractive to international students. With the exception of elite universities such as the Indian Institutes of Technology, most others remain stymied by incompetent governance and financial challenges. Some private universities offer excellent education but they are relatively expensive and far too few in number.

These reservations aside, the SII initiative still has the potential to become a game changer in terms of attracting larger numbers of international students to India. The drip-drip of overseas universities registering an interest in establishing Indian outposts appears to be accelerating and, in recent months, the government has also simplified student applications and visa procedures.

In short, the intent seems to be there. But we will have wait to see whether India really can reclaim its status as a teacher to the world.

Pushkar is director of the International Centre Goa.