HYDERABAD: It was five years ago the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with a handful of foreign universities to set up their campuses and centre in the State. However, since then there has been no progress on that front. So what is stopping those foreign varsities from starting their operations in the State?
The reason, according to those in the know of things, is the myriad restrictions put by the University Grants Commission UGC).The TSCHE, which presently has some programmatic research collaborations with a few foreign universities, has signed an MoU with the University of Pittsburgh to explore possibilities of academic cooperation between varsities in Telangana and the American university.
“The university is interested in helping Telangana by establishing a medical research centre in tribal areas to study the diseases. But this proposal too is yet materialise,” said TSCHE chairman T Papi Reddy.
The UGC currently allows foreign universities to operate in India only in collaboration with an Indian higher education institution partner and that too with several regulations, the official said. For now, the UGC only permits exchange programmes and research collaborations.But these universities cannot issue certificates.
If the Higher Education Commission of India Bill, formulated by the Centre is passed, it will help the government form a single body to replace the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education. “We will be grateful if the Centre allows foreign universities to establish their centres in India.
The presence of foreign universities will lead to a positive transformation among universities in Telangana. These universities can bring in a culture that offers academic autonomy, with myriad courses and modern technology” opined the TSCHE official.
“Education system in India is collapsing, particularly in Telangana. We are way behind time, it is high time that we allow foreign universities to establish here,” opined T Papi Reddy.“Whenever I go out on official tours to universities in the US, Australia or Singapore, I realise that they are ‘way far ahead of us’ in terms of technology and resources,” he said.Besides, the Bill, if passed, will grant an opportunity for students in Telangana to be able to study out of USA, Australia, and Singapore.