NEW DELHI: Four southern universities, including the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, are among the 48 Indian universities that are either engaged or actively pursuing collaborations with foreign higher education institutions (HEIs) under the government’s twinning scheme.
Periyar University, Salem, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka and Pondicherry University are the others from the south seeking collaborations under the scheme, said University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Professor M. Jagadesh Kumar.
Kumar told this newspaper that the scheme has received a positive response ever since the regulations were released in May this year, which allows Indian and foreign higher education institutions to offer twinning and joint degree (where some course is completed abroad) and dual degree (where both colleges award degree) programmes. “Response to the regulations has been overwhelming.
So far, 48 Indian universities have shared that they have either engaged in academic collaboration with foreign higher education institutions (HEIs) or in the advanced stage of finalising the collaboration agreements,” Kumar said.
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences formally launched the 2022-2023 academic session with two new international dual degree programmes, the first of its kind, on September 12, 2022. About 26 central universities figure in the list of eligible Indian HEIs, the UGC chairman said.