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Economic and Political Impact of Internationalisation of HigherEducation in the Indian and Global Context

byP.J.Lavakare* and K.B.Powar **

Abstract

At a meeting of the G-20 group of countries held in 2012, it was concluded that the globalmobility in higher education – the exchange of students and scholars – is an economicengine that fuels the economy of both home and host countries. It further concluded thatInternational Education is a multi-billion dollar industry that is a major service-sector“export” which boosts skills development. At the same time, it fosters innovation andgrowth and strengthens commercial, cultural and diplomatic ties between nations. Thepaper has analysed the implications of Internationalisation of higher education indeveloped and developing countries and highlighted the economic and political impact ofthe changes that have come about during the last decade, both globally and morespecifically in India. The need for Internationalisation of Indian higher education isemphasized.

Keywords: International Education; Economic and Political impact; Student Mobility,India; Global citizen.

______________________________________________________________* P J Lavakare, 19 Khagol Society, 38/1, Panchavati, Pashan, Pune 411008, (India) ; e-mail < lavakare@vsnl.com>

**K B Powar, Chancellor, Dr. D Y Patil Vidyapeeth, Sant Tukaram Nagar, Pimpri, Pune 411018 (India); e-mail: < kbpowar@gmail.com>

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I. Introduction:

The G-20 is a forum for the governments of large economies that regularly meets to

discuss various issues affecting the global economy. On one occasion, a special

summit on “International Education: A Global Economic Engine” was organized on

May 2-3, 2012 in Washington D.C. India, a member of this G-20 group, could not

participate but had sent its paper on its priorities on the various issues of this summit.

One major conclusion arrived at the summit was:

“Global mobility in higher education – the exchange of students andscholars – is an economic engine that fuels the economy of both homeand host countries, keeps our universities vibrant and competitive, andprepares the future workforce to meet global challenges. Internationaleducation is a multi-billion dollar industry that is a major service-sector“export” which boosts skills development. At the same time, it fostersinnovation and growth and strengthens commercial, cultural anddiplomatic ties between nations.” (IIE 2012).

The summit is a manifestation of what potential impact that international education,

and global mobility of students and scholars, is going to have on the Economy and

Politics of nations – both developed and the developing. Has India taken note of this

impact and taken some new policy initiatives in the higher education sector? So far

one has not seen any major sign of change, as India plans its educational reforms for

the next five years. The Indian priorities indicated at the above G-20 meeting will be

reviewed against the actual developments so far.

Presently, India is taking pride in its young “demographic dividend” - with 65% of

its population below the age of 35 years - and hopes that it will be able to provide

educated manpower to different parts of the world in the coming decade. To be able

to provide this kind of global workforce, it has to produce “global citizens” with

wide international exposure and multicultural understanding, to be able to operate

outside its nationally protected educational environment. Indian education system is

not doing this today. For this, India has to introduce global mobility amongst its

students and scholars, through a well thought out plan for Internationalisation of

higher education.

The present article will examine the state of Indian Higher in the light of the priorities

outlined in the Indian paper presented at the above summit (IIE 2012a).

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One believes that the Indian higher education system, if it has to benefit from the

economic and political impact of Internationalisation, it needs to urgently address the

several lacunae and short comings that exist. These shortcomings will be discussed in

the light of the various elements of Internationalisation that are needed. Attempt will

also be made, wherever relevant, to compare and contrast between India and China

(IIE 2012b), who both have a very large and well developed higher educational

infrastructure, but seem to have taken a different road map for Internationalisation.

II. The Rationale of Internationalisation of Higher education

One believes that Internationalisation of higher education is a fallout of the

globalisation of the world economy, a decade or two earlier. Therefore before one

discusses the economic and political impact of Internationalisation of higher

education, particularly in India, it may be worthwhile recollecting the definition of

Internationalisation of higher education, as defined by Jane Knight and now accepted

by UNESCO, in the global context. It says:

“Internationalisation of higher education is defined as the process of integrating aninternational, intercultural and/or global dimension into the goals, functions(teaching/learning, research, services) and delivery of higher education”.(Knight J. 2006). The above definition was used by the International Association of Universities

(IAU) to carry out a survey on how various educational institutions and countries

have responded to the call of Internationalisation of Higher Education. (IAU 2014).

The survey wanted to find out if countries considered this process a necessary one

and if so what were their rationale, reasons and the elements of their academic

programmes that were to be internationalised. Majority of the responses did favour

the process of Internationalisation, but the perceptions varied with different regions

of the world. It is not known whether India responded to this survey, but the Indian

paper at the IIE 2012 Summit does seem to accept the need for Internationalisation

of its higher education. In the IAU survey following are the major elements that

were quoted for Internationalisation:

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a. Encouraging Student Mobility:

By providing opportunities to students to study outside their country, so as to acquire a

global exposure in education, would improve their career opportunities once they get

qualified as “global citizens”. This rationale is the most dominant and strongly

supported by many countries – both developed and developing.

b. Enhancing the quality of education:

Through international collaboration and exchanges is another reason for countries to

internationalise their higher education system and enhance its quality. c. Improving the Quality & Quantity of Research:

Internationalisation is also expected to result in improving the quantity and quality of

research with long term economic fallout, in terms of industrial development based on

new and innovative technology inputs. d. Enhancing the Prestige of the University:

Through Internationalisation, it is expected to improve the academic ranking of its

universities and give an improved national political stature and simultaneously attract

more international students and thus providing economic benefits. e. Risks of Internationalisation:

Some countries have also expressed their concern as it is likely to lead to “brain drain”

and in some cases loss of cultural identity.

How India has positioned itself for the process of Internationalisation will be analysed

using the policy statements made in the paper that was presented at the IIE 2012

summit.(IIE 2012a). In May 2014, India has elected a new government, but the present

position on Internationalisation of higher education appears to be still the same as

perceived in the plans of the previous government. A comparison with China will also

highlight the differences between these countries, both with massive and similar higher

education infrastructure.

III. India’s Response to Internationalisation; Comparisons with China

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The Indian paper at the IIE 2012 Summit has stated:

“India finds the Internationalisation of higher education to be an opportunityto upgrade the quality of human resource and to improve the standards ofteaching and research in Indian universities. Enhancing the quality of humanresources will promote the competitiveness of the Indian economy and lead togreater participation of its skilled manpower in the global labour market. TheInternationalisation of higher education is thus viewed to support domesticsectors of growth as well as to serve countries of the developed anddeveloping world through the supply of skilled manpower”.(IIE 2012a)

India seems to have accepted the importance of Internationalisation of its higher

education system, but does not have in place a well defined strategy for

Internationalisation of its higher education. In fact the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) for

Higher Education had specifically proposed an institutional infrastructure for

Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education by setting up an “India International

Education Centre” that could promote and assist the Indian universities in evolving

specific activities for the Internationalisation. (Planning Commission 2012). The new

Centre proposed in 2012, is yet to be set up and even the concept has not been approved

by the new government. At this stage one does not know India’s formal commitment to

the program of “Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education”. At this stage

therefore, one would like to examine the various elements of Internationalisation that

have been identified by the IAU survey and see where India stands on some of these

major elements.

a. Encouraging Student Mobility:

This has been considered as the main driving engine for the Internationalisation process

in higher education. The Indian paper has commented very little on the steps that need to

be taken by the university system to energize this engine. It has tended to blame the

existing inadequacies on non-academic issues relating to visa regulations and lack of

information on global student mobility. It has observed that students from the developed

countries are not coming to developing countries like India and the countries of G-20

should do something about it! It has not analysed or proactively suggested how India

could attract these students to its educational institutions through well designed short

term programs that are the need of the developed countries. To understand the issue of

student mobility, let us look at its quantitative aspect – globally and in India. A

comparison with China will also show how China has addressed the subject of student

mobility to its advantage. India has approximately 30 million students registered in the

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higher education system. Out of this only about 200,000 students (i.e. less than 0.7%)

get an opportunity to cross national borders for studying abroad. The Indian students

studying at home hardly get an opportunity to meet international students as only about

33 thousand international students come to India i.e. approx. one international student

per 1000 Indian students. (AISHE 2014). This is a major lacuna in Indian students’ lack

of exposure to the outside world – a disadvantage towards becoming a “global citizen”!

Compare this with China which has also about 30 million students studying in the

higher education system, but it attracts nearly 300 thousand international students (ten

times more than India). Further, out of these international students nearly 40% are from

developed countries. This large population of international students interacting with

local Chinese students adds to the Internationalisation process of the Chinese students,

who like Indians, are also competing in the global job market. The Chinese government

has taken several policy decisions to internationalise its higher education system and

providing scholarship support for students and scholars to study abroad (IIE 2012b).

Even scholarships are offered to international students to come and study in China.

Some of the education programs in China are now being offered in English to attract

international students. (China is offering Medical education degree in English and

Indian students are attracted to it, forming roughly 3% of the international students in

China). Several programs are designed and promoted by the Chinese Government for

“Study in China” (China 2015). India has no such strategy in place for attracting

international students. Indian government claims that it has an unsatisfied demand from

local students and hence it cannot accommodate international students beyond a certain

quota of 15% over and above the allotted seats. It fails to notice however, that even this

15% quota is not being utilized by the Indian higher education system in view of lack of

proper academic programs that are tailored for international students. In fact a recent

study has shown that the international student population from African students is in fact

declining during the last five years or so. (Lavakare and Powar 2013). In contrast,

Chinese government has taken a policy decision to attract more international students to

China and have even set up a target of having 500,000 international students by the year

2020. China has clearly set up a strategy for Internationalisation of its higher education.

India has not! The status of outward student mobility in India, China and in the world is

summarised in Figure 1. The world student mobility is slowly increasing and more so is

China’s outward student mobility. On the contrary, Indian student’s outward mobility is

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on the decline and this is likely to impact Indian students’ opportunities of securing a

place in the global workforce vis-à-vis their Chinese counterparts.

Fig. 1. Outward Mobility of international students.

(Source: Project Atlas 2013)

The status of international students coming to India over the years is shown in Figure 2.

Fig. 2. The number of international students coming to India since 1991.

Sources: (Powar and Bhalla 2012; & AISHE 2014)

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

3

3.7

4.1

1.58

2.17

2.54

2.22

1.25 1.22

1.74

2.27

3.4

World (in 000,000) India (in 00,000)

China (in 00,000)

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Though the trend shows a rapid growth over the last few years, the absolute number is still

insignificant compared to the international students who are visiting other countries. Out of a

total of over four million international students studying outside their country, India is able to

attract less than 1% while China attracts nearly 10%. The bulk of the international student

population does tend to go to the developed countries.

India has not been able to attract students from developed countries mainly because of

its rigid academic system of organising the higher education courses mainly for degree

programmes. Further it is not making any efforts, unlike the Chinese, to organise special

courses of “Study in India” which are in demand from students of the developed

countries.

b. Enhancing the Quality of Education

One of the rationales given for Internationalisation of higher education is that this will

enhance the quality of education. India has been very tardy in its emphasis on quality.

There are multiple agencies that have been set up by government for accreditation of the

various areas of academic disciplines. There have been conflicts between the various

agencies and there have been serious cases of corruption in some accreditation agencies.

As part of the education reforms that were recommended by the National Knowledge

Commission (NKC), set up by the Prime Minister of India, it had strongly suggested

that the multiple agencies should be amalgamated into one regulatory authority to

oversee the accreditation process for different areas of disciplines (NKC 2009).

Unfortunately the government has not accepted this recommendation for

implementation and the confusion and differences in regulatory practices continue. This

has resulted in the overall poor quality of Indian education institutions. As a result, in

the world rankings of universities, the Indian institutions have not found place in the top

200 universities. Today, in the world academic community university ranking is playing

an important role in attracting international academic collaborations. The Chinese

universities have taken several conscious policy steps for Internationalisation of their

education system and, as a result, several of the Chinese universities are in the top 200

list of world university rankings. If India makes a conscious effort of internationalising

its education system, benchmarking it with international standards, it is likely that the

quality of Indian education system will improve.

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c. Improving the Quality and Quantity of Research

This is perhaps one area where the Indian initiative in growing collaborative research

arrangements with a number of countries has succeeded in enhancing India’s research

output, particularly in the field of Science and Technology. The Department of Science

and Technology (DST) has entered into collaborative agreements with more than 70

countries – both developed and developing (DST 2013). These collaborative

arrangements have helped India more than double its research publications during the

last decade. Unfortunately, India’s infrastructure for carrying out research is however

more in favour of national laboratories that are exclusively set up for research. The

research in the university sector is not very significant, mainly because of the fact that

out of the total national R&D budget only about 4.1 % is in the higher education sector.

Internationalisation of higher education should be coupled with increased allocation to

R&D, so that academic community would get better opportunities for improving their

quality of research activities. The national efforts of providing research support to

project based activities have however helped the talented members of the university

system to get substantial amount of project grants and in improving the research culture

in the university system The DST 2013 report also indicates that China has shown a

much greater increase in its research output compared to India. China has also

benefitted considerably as a result of Internationalisation of its premier universities and

increased collaborative research programmes through exchange of scholars with

developed countries. A strong research base in the Chinese university system has also

enabled China to have several of its universities in the top 200 of the ranking system.

Research in the Indian university system must be strengthened through

Internationalisation of education programmes. Like in China, the Indian government

must have a massive programme of supporting its scholars and students for visiting

international universities for teaching and research activities arising out of international

collaboration, thus augmenting the Internationalisation of education in India.

d. Risks of Internationalisation

The IAU 2014 Global Survey on attitudes of countries towards Internationalisation of

higher education had also shown the concern of some countries as regards its impact on

the dilution of the cultural values of the host country. For India, this has not been a

concern at all. However there were times when the Internationalisation process was

looked upon as a possible source of “brain drain” with talented students educated in the

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western countries preferring to migrate away from their homeland. Fortunately, as the

Indian policy paper at the IIE Summit 2012 has indicated, this fear is no longer a

primary concern. With globalisation of the economy, India has opened up opportunities

for several multinational companies to establish their offices in India – particularly their

R&D units. These companies prefer to employ Indian talent that may have already

worked abroad and are willing to return home. In effect there seems to be a trend of

“brain drain” turning into “brain gain” for India, as a result of the globalisation

phenomenon. Some of these returnees also join the newly established Indian

universities, particularly the private universities, who seem to be more open to the

process of Internationalisation of higher education.

From the above analysis of India’s response to the process of Internationalisation of

higher education it appears that the process of Internationalisation has not yet taken off.

If India has to benefit from the process of Internationalisation, major policy initiatives

and concrete programme activities in the area of student and scholar exchanges,

educational institutional tie ups for collaboration in teaching and research, will have to

be put in place. Indian universities must increase the entry to international students with

whom the local students can interact. The education reforms in the higher education

system of India are long overdue and the emphasis on Internationalisation must be given

a high priority.

IV. Economic Impact of Internationalisation – Globally and in India

(a) Impact of Student Mobility

Globalisation of economy had clearly impacted India; and India came up with its own

liberalisation policy in the early nineties. This did bring about the socio-economic

development in the country. The impact of globalisation of economy and the resulting

emergence of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) took a new turn

when GATS recognised higher education as a service sector industry that can be traded

across nations. The economic liberalisation gave rise to global employability that led to

the mobility of students across national borders. International education became the

need of the knowledge economy and students started crossing national borders to seek

higher education in the world’s best of educational institutions. The western world had

an advantage of having a large number of good quality higher educational institutions

which started attracting young students from across the world, particularly from the

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developing countries. Western countries started looking at “exporting” education as an

industry and as a source of revenue. International students came to study and, in the

process, added to the economy of the host country by paying high tuition fees and also

incurring living costs that added to the revenue earnings. Providing education became a

“service sector” and a major source of commerce. Western countries became

“exporters” of higher education and pursuing higher education abroad resulted in a drain

of valuable resources for the students from developing countries like India. A look at

the Table 1 below shows the annual “export” earnings that some of the developed

countries are making as a result of international students studying in these countries.

Table I. Economic Impact of International students studying in various countries

Country Revenues Earned annually throughinflow of International Students

USA 26.8 Billion US DollarsIreland 900 million EurosAustralia 19.1 Billion Australian DollarsNew Zealand 2.3 Billion NZ DollarsCanada 5.5 Billion Canadian DollarsIndia No estimates have been attempted.

(source: Raisa Belyavina, IIE -2011)

Unfortunately, India, unlike the western countries, or even like China, has not made any

conscious effort to attract international students to its universities. India has not

bothered to look at attracting international students as a source of revenue. On the

contrary, its students going abroad for higher education has resulted in a financial drain

on the Indian economy. As mentioned in an earlier section, if Indian universities are

encouraged to develop special short term programmes for the students of the developed

countries, there is a potentially large market that needs to be tapped. An individual

university like the Hyderabad Central University has developed a Study India Program

(SIP) that has attracted a large number of students from the developed countries and the

programme is understood to be a good source of revenue to the University. If more

universities in India make similar efforts, it is possible that international students can

provide economic benefits through such international education programmes. The IIE

Summit 2012 statement on the economic impact of Internationalisation of higher

education had said: “Global mobility in higher education – the exchange of students

and scholars – is an economic engine that fuels the economy of both home and host

countries”. The experience of India so far does not support this observation. Indeed,

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India has not made use of the opportunity that Internationalisation of education has

provided to China and other developed countries.

India is sending more of its self financed students abroad, than it is bringing in

international students. Nearly 200,000 Indian students are studying abroad while only

about 35 thousand international students are studying in India. A rough estimate tells us

that, on an average, an international student spends roughly Rs. 3 Lakhs per year while

studying in India while an Indian student studying abroad spends roughly Rs. 20 Lakhs

per year. With this rough estimate we come up with figures that tell us that while

international students in India are bringing in only about Rs. 1000 Crores/year of

revenue, the outflow of Indian students is resulting in roughly Rs.40, 000 Crores/year

being spent abroad. In effect the student mobility factor is a negative economic impact

of international education in India.

(b) Economic Benefits through Skill Development

It is true that exposure to international education abroad has opened up several

opportunities for Indian students who have become entrepreneurs at home and abroad.

Studying abroad in a competitive and broad based education system makes the students

‘global citizens’ who can use their skills in any part of the world. A large majority of the

Indian students do not get such opportunities of enjoying an international education

environment and after their graduation are considered largely “unemployable” even by

the local employers. Indian education system has to therefore incorporate, as part of the

degree programme, a short term internship abroad to give their students a real life

experience of being exposed to international work environment. At the present moment,

only a few elite institutions like IITs have started giving opportunities to their students

to participate in such international internship programmes. The programme has to be

introduced in a large number of our universities. Such well planned programmes,

through collaborative arrangements with foreign universities could help the national

skill development programme. This will further enrich the newly announced objectives

of “Make in India” manufacturing agenda and help improve the productivity in India. It

is this kind of skill development through Internationalisation of Indian higher education

system that will give the economic benefits to India.

(c) International Institutional & Programme Mobility

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(i) Foreign Education Providers in India:

The report of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC 2009) had recommended that

to meet the demand for higher education within the country, many more universities

must be set up. The Government has been focussing on setting up many more Indian

Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The private

sector has also added many more professional educational institutions. Unfortunately, it

has not been possible to increase quality education institutions in the country that will

not only produce top quality Indian graduates, but will also attract many more

International students that would bring in economic revenues to the country. India had

considered inviting reputed international universities to set up their branch campuses in

India. The ambitious scheme of opening up the Indian higher education market to

foreign universities has unfortunately not taken off. The regulatory conditions imposed

on the prospective foreign education providers has been a deterrent to them. Further, the

financial model approved for the setting up the foreign university campuses in the

country also did not prove viable for the foreign universities that had shown interest.

Unlike India, China has made several such joint institutional arrangements with foreign

universities. These have resulted in revenue generation opportunities for the host as well

as the visiting universities. At the same time the local Chinese students have been able

to get the opportunity of studying in a foreign university environment at home.

Presence of international universities on Indian soil could have been an economic gain

for India. India seems to have lost out on one more economic benefit of international

education.

(ii) Setting up Indian Institutions in Developing Countries:

India may not be in the top 200 ranked universities, but it has some very prestigious and

good quality institutions. The IIT and IIM brands are recognized abroad. Some of the

central universities like the Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Hyderabad

University, Madras University and Calcutta University have a very good academic

standing. In specialized areas like Space Research and Science, we have organizations

like the Indian Space Research Organization and the Indian Institute of Science that

have the capabilities of setting up specialized educational institutions in some of the

developing countries in Asia, Africa and Middle East. The Government of India must

encourage a group of good institutions to set up branch campuses in these countries and

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develop a revenue model that will economically help India and at the same time provide

good quality education to students of these countries. Indian higher education does have

a market in developing countries and India must use this to make a positive economic

impact of international education.

(iii) Programme Mobility:

International students from developed countries are keen to come and Study in India for

short duration, multidisciplinary and field project based programmes, to understand

India as part of their “global immersion” experiences. Indian university system as a

whole has not developed the expertise to formulate such “Study India Programmes” that

could be marketed and offered to students of developed countries. The tuition fees and

cost of living that would have to be paid by the international students could be a very

important source of revenue earning for the universities. There are examples of

Hyderabad Univesity, Madras University, Delhi University and Goa University that

have developed such programmes that have become a good source of revenue. Indian

university system should be geared and organized to develop such courses that will have

a good economic impact to our education system. The ‘Study India Program’ market

must be explored and promoted aggressively.

(iv) Twinning Programmes:

Some countries have developed an education model under which part of the total study

program of a university could be carried out in another country, through mutual

recognition of the education quality. A student thus gets the experience of working in

two universities, one in the host country and the other abroad, thus getting an

international exposure during the education period. Under such a twinning arrangement,

an Indian student can study abroad for a short period, without having to pay the high

tuition fee of the foreign university for all the four years. The degree can then by

awarded by the home university, or by the foreign university or the student can get a

dual degree, depending upon the arrangements made by the partnering universities.

Under such a system, an Indian student can get a foreign degree for a much lesser cost

than if had fully joined the foreign university. Unfortunately the “twinning programme”,

as regulated by the Indian government, has also not been acceptable to many

universities in India and abroad. The “Twinning” programme concept of international

education has also not been utilised by the Indian education system.

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As has been shown above, the Indian education system has the opportunity to benefit

from the International Education environment. But to economically benefit from some

of the activities mentioned above, a conscious national strategy for a flexible way of

Internationalisation of Indian Higher Education has to be put in place. Such a policy

does not exist today.

V. Political Impact of Internationalisation – the Global Scene

Traditionally, higher education has always attracted scholars of different countries to

exchange ideas in the areas of philosophy, culture, religion, language etc. India’s ancient

Nalanda University had been known for the visits of international scholars to its campus

to study such fields. After the end of the World War II, boundaries of several countries

opened up and cultural and educational exchanges became a means of promoting peace

and mutual understanding among nations. In fact, after the World War II, the American

Senator William Fulbright started the educational exchange program between the US

and several countries of the world for promoting mutual understanding between the

people of these countries. This program, now known as the Fulbright programme is the

flagship program of the US government which gives a political pride of place to the

United States because of its international nature in the field of education. In such

international education programmes “economics” was not the driving force, but it

certainly had a political impact giving the US a prestigious position in the field of

International education.

With the phenomenon of globalisation of economy, higher education was looked at with

a new dimension. Soon the concept of “knowledge economy” enabled new

technological knowledge to be converted into tradable goods and services. These could

then be marketed globally under the new regime of GATS. This resulted in several

nations looking at partnership in international education as a means to develop their

own economy using the knowledge acquired through exchange of students and scholars.

Using a political forum, the developing countries tried to get the new knowledge from

the developed nations; in turn, the developed countries used the talent and the potential

market available in the developing countries. International education and exchanges of

students and scholars was put on the political agenda of leaders of several countries. Let

us look at some of the political initiatives that have emerged as a result of the impact of

international education.

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US President Obama recognised the need for tapping the huge Chinese market and felt

the need for American students to understand the social and cultural environment of this

market. Under the political leadership of Obama, a new educational programme called

the “100 Thousand Strong” was started under which hundred thousand American

students would travel to China in the next five years to learn the Chinese culture and the

language. In future, this would help in expanding the trade and friendship between the

two countries, notwithstanding their diverse political ideologies. The Chinese also

realised the importance of such political initiatives that would help many of their

students to travel to the US and acquiring new knowledge that could be brought back to

augment the quality of education and the economy of China. The Education diplomacy

was at work.

The political impact of the developments in Internationalisation of higher education is

also evident when the governments of Brazil and the United States came up with an

initiative of education partnership (US-Brazil 2012). The official government statement

on this initiative states:

“Presidents Obama and Rousseff share a commitment topromoting an innovative U.S.-Brazil education partnership to meetthe needs of a 21st century workforce. They agreed to strengtheneducational exchanges, particularly between research and highereducation institutions in the Science, Technology, Environment,and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Both presidents believe that theprosperity of a country is significantly linked to the education of itspeople, which is enriched by shared academic experiences in othercountries”.

In Russia, aaccording to a new program approved, on June 20, 2014, by Prime Minister

Dmitry Medvedev, called “The Global Education Program”, Russian students will

receive full financial support from the state, provided they agree to work for a Russian

company for a minimum of three years after completing their degree abroad.

According to Mr. Andrei Nikitin – the Head of Russian Agency for Strategic Initiatives

(ASI) - “The aim of this program is for Russia to adopt the best foreign practices in the

field of education”. More than 4 billion Rubles ($118 million) have already been

allocated to cover the costs of the first three years of the program.(Russia 2014).

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A small city nation like Singapore has also taken the advantage of its high quality

international management schools to become a global business education hub. .

(Singapore 2014). As Singapore is strategically placed in the heart of Asia, it has

become an esteemed business epicenter that serves as a gateway between Western and

Eastern economies. As education contributes to new business ideas and activity,

Singapore has decided to offer the best tertiary education options that are directly

relevant to businesses in Singapore. Politically, Internationalisation of higher education

has made a great impact in Singapore

Germany is keen that politically, to keep its standing as a major nation, it must take

steps to retain its position as one of the top five leading host countries for mobile

international students. This entails attracting at least 350,000 foreign students to

Germany by the end of the decade (Germany 2013). In order to sustain the German

higher education system in its current form, guarantee its innovative ability and ensure a

sufficient pool of international talent, Germany is keen to attract a high number of

qualified international students in the coming decade. With the support of its funding

agency DAAD, Germany is keen to continue working to achieve this goal despite the

large number of German students expected to enrol at university in the coming years.

The universities will require additional resources to create the necessary space for these

talented foreign students.

At a joint meeting between Japan and the United States, held on April 25, 2014, they

have committed themselves to student exchanges, issuing the following statement:

Recognizing that people-to-people exchange is an irreplaceable investment in thefuture of the Alliance, President Obama and Prime Minister Abe announced theirintent to create a new bilateral exchange program that would enable Japaneseyouth to visit the United States, enhance their English language abilities, anddevelop professional skills through internship opportunities. The leaders alsointend to explore internship opportunities for U.S. youth in Japan. …..Furthermore, Japan is going to send 6,000 Japanese students to the UnitedStates in fiscal year 2014 through student exchange support programs.., includingpublic-private partnerships such as the TOBITATE! (Study abroad) -YoungAmbassador Program, further contributing to reaching our shared goalestablished by CULCON. Japan and the United States also plan to explore newavenues for exchange, including support for Japanese researchers and programslinking the next generation of Japanese and U.S. leaders and friends”………….

…… “To ensure the future strength of the U.S.-Japan relationship, the twogovernments share the goal, established by the U.S.-Japan Conference on

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Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON), of doubling two-way studentexchange by the year 2020.” (Japan-US 2014)

In Europe, the increased mobility of European students to other parts of the world had a

very interesting political impact. In 1999, the ministers of several European countries

decided to adopt what is now known as the “Bologna Process”, under which the higher

education programs of individual countries of Europe are brought together into what is

now called as the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Students from individual

European nations are now able to freely move within the European countries to get an

“international education” as part of their academic degree programmes. In a way, the

impact of international education has been to politically bring the European countries

together. (Bologna Process 2009)

The Bologna Process in Europe seems to have had an impact on the large number of

African nations. African countries have always been sought for bilateral partnership in

education from various countries – both developed and developing. However as the

movement of Internationalisation of higher education developed, the African countries

came together as a group and, in 2009, formed The African Network for

Internationalisation of Education (ANIE) as an independent, non-profit making, non-

governmental African network committed to the advancement of high quality research,

capacity building and advocacy on Internationalisation of higher education with prime

focus on Africa. The mission of ANIE is to develop and strengthen capacity for

research, advocacy and professional development in the international dimension of

higher education to meet the needs of individuals, institutions and organizations in

Africa. The vision of ANIE is to be the leading organisation in Internationalisation of

higher education in Africa. The setting up of ANIE may be considered as a major

political impact of Internationalisation of higher education in Africa. (ANIE 2009)

One has seen above how the Internationalisation of higher education has impacted the

politics of nations. Many of them have used it as a leverage to strengthen their political

standing as an individual country or a region or a continent like Africa. Small countries

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like Japan and Singapore and a large country like China, have looked at international

education in a political framework. One hopes that such an impact – more so involving

the nations coming together in partnership - would be a major contribution of

international education. In the light of the world experience, one will now make a few

observations on the question of political impact of international education on India.

VI. Impact of Internationalisation of Higher Education in India

Unlike some of the examples given above, Indian political leadership has not

highlighted the importance of student mobility in Internationalisation of education and

responded with concrete programmes that could be announced at a political forum.

Even at the IIE Education Summit 2012, the Indian political leadership was absent at

the G-20 meeting. The Indian priority statement presented at the G-20 education

summit has also not clearly spelt out India’s policy statement on the Internationalisation

of higher education (IIE 2012a). India seems to have accepted the fact that

Internationalisation of higher education is an “opportunity” to enhance the quality of

research and teaching of the Indian higher education system, but then it has left it to the

Indian universities to do the rest of the work, without providing the necessary policy

framework or the much needed resources. India seems to be relying on its favourable

demographic dividend by merely producing college graduates who, it thinks, will

automatically join the global workforce needed by the developed and the developing

countries. The need for exposure to international work environment through a

programme of student mobility is not being recognized, as has been done by countries

like China, Brazil and even Russia. Indian government has not announced any

programme for financially supporting young graduates to travel abroad in a planned

manner. In fact, as was shown in Fig. 1, unlike China, the number of Indian students

going abroad has slowly levelled off, if not declined a little. The emphasis on enhancing

research collaboration is of course necessary, but exposure to the outside world as part

of the higher education process is not yet nationally recognised. International education

does not yet seem to have had any impact on the political regime in India.

To emphasise academic exchanges for research (and not student exchanges for global

education), India has taken one political route by announcing the Obama-Singh

Initiative, in 2009, to enhance research partnership between Indian and American

universities. (Obama-Singh 2012). This is a programme that will only benefit the

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senior research workers in the university system leaving a vast number of undergraduate

students out of this Indo-US exchange programme. Like the “100 Thousand Strong”

programme of President Obama, sending American students to China, the Indian

political leadership has not looked at the need of the so called potential global skilled

workforce that is expected to be provided to the outside world. There is no political

commitment to producing “global citizens” from India.

One did see a political initiative, taken by the former President of India, Dr. A.P.J Abdul

Kalam, when India announced the provision of the Indian satellite services to African

students who could use the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) degree

programmes in a distance education mode. The programme did start on a high note, but

seems to have dwindled in recent years. India has also been losing the African student

population physically coming to India, in view of lack of political commitment of our

embassies to promote Indian higher education in the African countries. India has not

used the channel of “Education diplomacy” to attract many more African students to

come and study in India. (Lavakare and Powar 2013).

As a commonwealth country, India could use such a political diplomacy by offering to

attract many more African students to India. The few Commonwealth Fellowships that

are being offered to African students are not being aggressively marketed and as such

they do not seem to be helping in the inflow of larger number of African students to

India. Similarly, India could encourage the inflow of some of the students from the

Arab world, to enhance its diplomacy with the Arab world. This is particularly

important during the present difficult times being faced by the youths in these countries.

India could use its education and research expertise in areas of Agriculture and Space

Science, to set up specialised Universities in these areas, in some of the selected African

and Asian countries. This could make an important political impact in these countries

through a well planned international education programme. India’s experience in setting

up universities exclusively for the education of women could be another political

initiative in some of these countries. Recently, India has set up the South Asian

University, in Delhi. This is likely to make a political impact in South Asia.

India should take more such initiatives.

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In formulating the 12th Five Year Plan 2012-17, India had projected a scheme for setting

up an India International Education Centre for promoting Internationalisation of Indian

higher education. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any political commitment to

going ahead with such a Centre that could help enhancing India’s political standing

through International Education activities. In short, India has so far not shown its

political willingness to use the international education route to play a leading role in a

world of globalised education players.

VII. Conclusions

The emergence of a globalised economy resulted in the employment market being

suddenly opened up to global skilled manpower. The student community all over the

world started looking for a kind of education that would prepare them to be employable

in any part of the world. They were looking for an education that would make them

“global citizens”. The students, in their search for such an education became very

mobile and soon started leaving national boundaries to look for world class universities.

It is this development that made the educational system all over the world to transform

into what was called Internationalised higher education. The process of

Internationalisation of higher education was more quickly adopted by the western

world, which carefully defined the concept of Internationalisation of higher education.

The mobility of students happened more in the direction of south to north, with western

countries like USA, UK, Australia, and countries in Europe started attracting students

from the developing world. The International Association of Universities carried out a

survey to find out the attitude of countries all over the world towards the process of

Internationalisation of higher education. The survey concluded that there was a need for

international education and the future of the student community did depend on receiving

such education. The process of Internationalisation of higher education has led to

changes in economic and political approach of nations to using the higher education as a

tool for these changes. The present paper has analysed these economic and political

impacts of international education in the global and national context of India. It appears

that India has not paid adequate attention to the process of Internationalisation of higher

education and has therefore not taken economic or political advantage of its large

system of higher education. Comparison with countries like China highlights this lacuna

more strikingly. The paper has made an attempt to suggest certain initiatives that India

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should take to internationalise its higher education system and reap the economic and

political benefits that can accrue from this change.

Acknowledgment: The authors are grateful to Prof. Bhushan Patwardhan of Universityof Pune, who participated in the discussions held while conceptualizing the theme ofthis paper. It was unfortunate that he could not continue to work on this theme with ussubsequently due to his other academic commitments.

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