INDIA: For-profit universities not welcome

India plans to shut its doors to international public and private universities that operate for profit, believing that the move will keep the education sector free of commercialisation, writes Hemali Chhapia for The Times of India. So the University of Phoenix of the US, or the expanding Monash University of Australia, or Britain's first private company-university BPP College of Professional Studies, would not be permitted to set foot in the country.

This fine-print is the third restrictive clause the Human Resources Development Ministry has introduced in the Foreign Education Providers' Bill, which aims to allow international universities to set up campuses in India. The other two conditions include forbidding foreign universities from repatriating funds to their home country and setting up a minimum corpus of US $11 million.

Sources said the Bill, passed by the cabinet, would be introduced in the monsoon session of parliament. "We are not going to permit every foreign university to come in. For one, universities listed on any stock market as well as for-profit universities would not be allowed to set up campuses in India," said a senior official in the HRD ministry. Ever since the cabinet approved the bill with the financial curbs, sceptics have been asking why an Ivy League institution would come to India.
Full report on The Times of India site

While Kapil Sibal promises that a revolution larger than the one in the telecom sector awaits the education sector, critics are sceptical. With too much happening too soon, there seems to be lack of clarity about the reforms in place and proposals in the pipeline. The Times of India attempts to decode the new policies and examines their worth.
Full report on The Times of India site