Transnational education in India : premises of the Foreign educational institutions bill (2010)

Abstract

The thesis analyses the current policy environment of transnational education in India. Special attention is given to the context and content of the newly proposed regulatory framework for transnational education, namely, ‘Foreign Educational Institutions Bill, 2010’, which is pending for the approval of Parliament of India. The thesis is set as a mixed method study. It has a qualitative discussion based on the existing literature on quality assurance and regulation of transnational education, as well as, a quantitative account based on a survey, set in the context of the Bill, conducted among 301 higher education institutions (130 foreign higher education institutions, 171 Indian higher education institutions). The thesis examines the approach of India through the Bill in accordance with the obligations of GATS in educational services, as well as, compares with the existing regulatory frameworks of transnational education in other country contexts. One of the major arguments discussed here is that global university rankings can’t qualify as an information guide for India in order to identify potential foreign providers. The thesis recommends that India needs to revisit the entry criteria, precisely the financial conditions, of the Bill in order to avoid a situation where both legitimate and false providers are equally blocked.