Foreign Univarsity Bill

Government announced plans to bring the Foreign Education Providers (Regulation for Entry and Operation) Bill to Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session. The Left has consistently opposed moves to let in foreign universities.At present, foreign universities are forbidden from offering degree courses in India by the human resource development ministry that governs education, although the commerce ministry officially allows 100 per cent FDI in the sector. But nearly 150 foreign education providers are offering joint courses with Indian varsities under a twinning arrangement — part of the course in India, the rest abroad — that is allowed by the education department.Under the proposed law, foreign education providers will have to apply for deemed-to-be university status from the University Grants Commission (UGC). Once granted the status, the foreign institutions will be treated on a par with Indian deemed universities.A crucial caveat in the proposed law may also allow the UGC to exempt some “world-class” institutions — like Harvard, Cambridge or Oxford — from its regulations on a “case-by-case” basis.