NEW DELHI: The Centre is set to revise the criteria for institutions partnering under the Study in India programme in order to allow institutions with necessary infrastructure and academic quality to join it. As of now, 117 institutes are partners under this scheme launched in 2018 that is aimed at drawing international students to Indian campuses.
In a review meeting of the programme on Friday, Union higher education secretary Amit Khare said that no distinction will be made between private and public institutions in matters of supporting internationalization of institutes.
Under SII, admissions are merit based and done through a common portal. Around 7500 students from over 50 countries have come to Indian institutions so far under this programme. In the meeting on Friday, Khare called upon all partner institutions to set up world class hostels for international students and reminded them that there is a provision for financial assistance for this under the champion services sector scheme that supports SII, which can be provided to some institutions.
He also asked institutes to set up international students’ offices which will work as a single window support for anything that the international students may need, right from the day they get selected to join the institution.
In addition to this, the education ministry has also asked institutions that they should consider organizing orientation for international students when they join, as well as orientation for the faculty to sensitize them to teach using contexts that these students can relate to.
The government said that it is planning to facilitate enhanced academic collaborations between Indian and international institutions under Twinning, Joint and Dual degrees with credit transfer mechanism.