More details into Deakin University’s plans to open a full international teaching campus in India have been released, after the Australian prime minister joined a launch event in Ahmedabad, India.
Deakin’s announcement for a location at GIFT City in India was released ahead of Anthony Albanese’s trip to the country earlier in March.
India’s International Financial Services Centres Authority had previously shared that the campus would offer courses in financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The university is said to be investing $4 million in India over the next two-three years, according to The Hindu.
The campus will be in operation no later than mid-2024, and will deliver “job-ready” graduates to meet India’s labour demands and bolster Deakin’s “commitment to providing a world-class education and learning experience for students around the globe”, the university said.
“Deakin was the first international university to establish its presence in India in 1994, and since then, through innovative collaborations across research, education and training, we have forged a bond based on commitment, excellence, trust and transparency,” Deakin vice-chancellor Iain Martin said.
“Our India partnership is one of the jewels in the crown of our growth and success over the almost 50 years of Deakin’s existence from humble beginnings on a green field site at Waurn Ponds in 1974.”
The initial intake will be between 50-60 students, who will be charged around 50% of DU courses in Australia and, despite a trimester opportunity in Australia, they will not qualify for post study work-rights.
“Our India partnership is one of the jewels in the crown of our growth”
Student numbers in India – on two-year postgraduate masters of cybersecurity and of business analytics programs – will later increase to 100.
Stakeholders are known in the past to have questioned whether, without access to work rights, TNE courses taught overseas offer the same outcomes as those programs taught in country.
“The new campus aims to provide a world-class postgraduate education to meet the industry’s skilled workforce demands within the country,” Deakin vice-president (Global Alliances) and CEO (South Asia) Ravneet Pawha noted.
It will also provide “better opportunities” for local students who cannot afford to travel and live in Australia to study, the institution noted, adding that the campus will operate on the basis that standards and requirements are equivalent to those at Deakin’s four campuses in Australia.
The standard will be the same in GIFT City as in Australia, with academic standards based on Deakin’s standards frameworks and manuals aligned with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
Martin told Financial Express that while the branch campus will initially cater for Indian students it could potentially later welcome students from other South Asian nations.
“There will definitely be student exchange between Australian campuses and the IBC,” he said. The PM also shared his hopes for increased intercultural exchange between the two countries.
I very much want to see growing numbers of Australian and Indian students having the experiences of living and studying in our respective countries – and to bring those experiences home. pic.twitter.com/MUm1eFfGoZ
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) March 10, 2023
Some 20% of teaching will be delivered by Australia-based staff, with opportunities for Indian staff to visit Australia every 18 months, Martin added.
