Collaboration with foreign universities

BANGALORE: Educationists present at the inauguration of Indo-Global Education Summit 2011 on Tuesday were on par with each other in echoing their thoughts that collaboration with foreign universities would indeed help improve the quality of education in India.Bangalore University (BU) Vice-Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev, in his inaugural address, said that at present India does not have the capacity to meet the rising needs of educational requirements. “The government takes key decisions to avoid a demographic disaster, with only mouths to feed and no hands to work,” he observed. “There is not a single Indian university in the list of top 100 universities in the world. The question is why can’t we build them? Especially, in the higher education sector where there is a lot of political clout that dominates these institutions,” he added, stating that the opportunities here are   immense. “The key is to start engaging in this collaboration so that we become ready for the future”, he added.The two-day summit, organised by The Indus Foundation, will see more than 30 universities from USA, England, Canada, Sweden and other countries participating for academic research collaborations with Indian institutions and organisation. M N Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India, said that the economy is moving from the west to the east. “There needs to be meticulous planning if foreign universities are to spread their wings here. The initial planning should be there otherwise there will be confusion ,” he warned. “We need collaborative programmes with universities. Their role in the 21st century is important, especially with regard to economic activity. There are exchange programmes and dual programmes and such that can help,” said Dr H Maheshappa, Vice Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU).