Very interesting development as reported by the Indian Financial Express this morning..
Their website reveals that….
In what appears to be a clear acknowledgement that the heavily regulated education sector in India will be unable to cope with the expected surge in university education, the government is all set to open up the sector to foreign players. The clearance of the Foreign Educational Institution (Regulation of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010 by the Union Cabinet paves the way for it to be introduced in Parliament this year. If the Bill becomes law, it will allow foreign universities to set up campuses in India. In the coming years, India will be the happy hunting ground for the top-notch global universities. Yet, it will be many months?probably years?before results from liberalising the higher education sector become apparent.
Nearly 50 proposals from foreign universities, including Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Imperial College London, are awaiting the government?s clearance. Until now foreign universities operated through partnerships with their Indian counterparts. Now the Bill allows foreign players to run solo ventures in India. There are some worthy caveats, though. The Bill sets tough conditions for foreign universities looking to set up campuses in India. Only universities accredited abroad will be allowed permission to set shop and no franchises will be encouraged. This precondition would help ensure that no fly-by-night operators mushroom like in the past.
Aspiring foreign universities will have to deposit Rs 50 crore as corpus fund and cannot repatriate surplus money generated from their education activities in India. The bar on taking back money will limit the appeal of India to many foreigners, but the Bill removes a clause in the existing law that forbids foreign varsities from conferring degrees in the country. The proposed Bill prescribes an eight-month time-bound format for granting approval to foreign educational institutions to set up campuses. Each institute will have to be registered with the University Grants Commission (UGC) or any regulatory body in place at the time of registration. The Bill also has a provision under which the government can reject an application of a university if it feels that the venture will have an adverse impact on national security.
Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal has remarked that ?a larger revolution than the telecom sector awaits us?. Both the minister?s words and the prospects of reversing the ?brain drain? could be swiftly undone if the process of application for registration with the regulator is tied in knots with red tape….
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Opening-the-doors-to-foreign-varsities/593638/
No mention of law schools specifically and we presume that a mere law school won’t pose a threat to Indian National Security.
We imagine Indian firms would be happy with their future employees being educated by? US or UK institutions and then coming to work with them.. then again the big international firms could easily snap up these graduates and have US & UK trained lawyers with Indian connections and cultural sensibilities.. that would certainly help if they aren’t allowed into the domestic market for a while longer.
