When you talk about India you must use superlatives: it’s the world largest democracy, by 2025 it will be the most populous country in the world with 1.6 billion people. Recently, the south Asian superpower overtook Japan to become the world’s third largest economy and it has one of the world’s most expansive education systems.
It’s fitting that for the country’s newly sworn-in Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the same is true. He won the election with the largest political majority in 25 years coming into office with absolute mandate. Many say his win represents the most important paradigm shift in India since it won independence from Great Britain in 1947.
India’s role in international education is also exceptional; until now it has been one of the most vital student source markets for western educators. But under Modi’s administration, what’s next for international education in India?
Modi wants to set up MOOCs and virtual classrooms “to make it convenient for working class people and housewives to further their knowledge and qualifications”
Exit polls showed Modi’s win was largely due to the support of the under-35 electorate which made up 47% of voters and are the very people set to gain from any education reforms he pushes through.
Yet the challenges are as immense as they are urgent: university capacity needs to expand from 14 million to 40 million places in six years, 500 million people need to be skilled by 2020 and the economy needs to create 15 million jobs a year to support graduates.
Campaign promises
As leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Modi’s election manifesto promised to increase education spending to 6% of GDP, up from 4% now, and placed a clear emphasis on skills devleopment and improving quality in higher education.
“We are all looking at Modi’s coming to power with optimism,” commented Lakshmi Iyer, Head of Education at market entry specialists Sannam S4. “There’s a lot to be hopeful for in the education sector primarily because of how Modi views it through the lens of skills.”
Policies laid out in the party platform include raising the standard of education and research so that Indian universities can compete on a global level and improve their place on league tables, setting up Centres of Excellence in partnership with industry to offer skills training and breaking the societal stigma of vocational education by providing vocational qualifications of academic excellence.
Online education is also a solution the party has introduced to increase access and meet the huge up-skilling challenge the country faces. Modi wants to set up massive open online courses (MOOC) and virtual classrooms “to make it convenient for working class people and housewives to further their knowledge and qualifications”.
Industry experts don’t expect him to carry over much from the last administration, including the long-awaited foreign education providers bill that has been caught in legislation stalemate since 2010 but would have allowed foreign providers to establish campuses in India.
“Given the complexities with the current scope of the foreign university bill, it is unlikely that it will move ahead in its current form,” confirmed Dr. Rahul Choudaha, Chief Knowledge Officer at World Education Services–a New York-based non-profit specialising in international education trends.
“However, it is very likely to be on the agenda and to be reintroduced with changes.”
Maintaining India’s identity and tradition is also central to the BJP’s ethos and will influence how they deal with foreign education providers. “One of the big things the BJP doesn’t want to see is foreign universities just using India as a source of revenue,” said Nick Booker, CEO of IndoGenius, an India-based inbound study coordinator.
“While they want investment and will support universities that show a genuine commitment to India they’re not going to be happy to see people who just want to come over here and make as much money as they can out of aspirational young india.
They’re also going to be very wary of those universities who want to come into India and change India rather than understand India.”
Track Record
In order to get an idea of what the country will be like under Modi’s rule, some argue that one need only look at his 13 year history of running Gujarat state.
“In his state he’s been very pro-business, pro-development”
While in power, he increased the number of universities in the state from 11 to 43, boosted international investment in the state’s automobile industry, and encouraged strategic partnerships between Gujarat universities and their foreign counterparts.
“In his state he’s been very pro-business, pro-development,” commented Duleep Deosthale, Co-founder of recruitment specialists Anyadir Education.
“His style is different, he just goes at it and gets things done. I think India has reached the stage where they need somebody of that nature. It has been many years of complacency and too much negotiation.”
Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India and managing director of the Gujarat-based Take Off Education Consultants is optimistic that Modi will be able repeat the economic upturn he brought to the state at the national level.
“Modi brings accountability to the government’s work and that generates revenue for the government and when it has revenue automatically the economy revives,” he said.
Mobility
As the economy improves, outbound mobility is likely to increase. “This is expected to be an outcome of the higher optimism and prospects of economic development, which in turn will encourage more students and families to invest in their education abroad plans,” said Choudaha.
After the value of the rupee began to fall in 2012, education consultant Gandhi agrees that under Modi he is hopeful more students will have more buying power. “The depreciation of the rupee affects the students going overseas because the cost of living automatically goes up, the tuition fee really floats up and it’s difficult to speculate at what end it will stop,” he said.
“If you’re a western professor designing a MOOC you should be thinking about the Indian audience”
It’s not surprising that as he is drafting policy Modi has turned to the only other country in the world that can match India in scale, China. Modi’s priority to expand India’s influence and culture abroad means he’s keen to establish Confucius Institute-like centres at Indian campus to promote Indian culture to visiting students.
“They’re going to make a real effort to reach out to the world so people can learn about India and engage with India,” said Booker at IndoGenius.
Improving the domestic system
In its manifesto, the BJP pledged to increase the public education system conceding that government facilities in sectors including health and education weren’t “up to the mark”.
Additionally, a recent study by the British Council concluded that in order to meet the demand for education brought about by the dramatic socio- and economic developments in the country, the Indian education sector must overcome low enrolment figures, low quality of teaching and learning, constraints on research and inequalities in access to higher education.
According to Deosthale, collaborations that will increase teaching quality are not only the most relevant to India’s educational needs, but also the most easily scalable, especially for providers who are willing to reach out to lesser-known institutions.
“Rather than being one of the 200 or 300 universities that has a relationship with the IIT [Indian Institute of Technology], why don’t you become one of only two universities working with an institution in another part of the country?” he commented.
Modi has put forward the solution of low-cost technology to answer the country’s access problems. Considering the scale and already proven appetite for online education in India, Nick Booker says the government backing creates another huge opportunity for foreign providers.
“India is the elephant in the online classroom,” he said. “You look at the number of Indian consumers of education, like Coursera, Udacity, Khan academy- India is the second largest audience after America. And India is doing that with five times fewer broadband connections than America.”
After being sworn in, all eyes are now on who he will appoint as Minister of Human Resources Development
As internet access across the country improves, we can only expect India’s online education consumption to grow. “If you’re a western professor designing a MOOC you should be thinking about the Indian audience,” advised Booker.
The next 100 days
Modi’s first three months in office will set the course for the next five years. After being sworn in, all eyes are now on who he will appoint as Minister of Human Resources Development (HRD) under which education falls.
“If it’s someone who is forward looking and willing to take up the challenge then yes we can expect change, but if it’s just going to be another politician who’s been given the charge and who has their own ideas, then it’s not going to really help,” said Doesthale.
“Everyone is hoping that it’s one of his closer associates who will have his ear and get things done or is receptive to listening to what universities have to say and is open to change.”
While five years might not seem like enough time to address the mammoth challenges the country faces, stakeholders are optimistic that Modi is the man to deliver results.
According to Booker, “things are going to move very fast, at a Chinese speed but in a democratic environment.”
