India assures level playing field to foreign educational institutions

Washington, Oct 14 (IANS) India will welcome US educational institutions to the country with a 'level playing field', but would not allow any 'fly-by-night operators', Minister For Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal has said.'There will be no discrimination and no favouritism. We will give them a level-playing field,' Sibal told reporters here Thursday at the conclusion of the first US-India Higher Education Summit he co-chaired with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
'Nobody is going to come to India to give to India without anything in return. Let us be clear on that. We have to provide them with the opportunities in which we believe that we can gain and there is something in it for them as well,' he said.
But the foreign institutions will be subjected to the same laws as are applicable to private educational institutions in India, said and it will be cautious to ensure that no 'fly-by-night operators' set up shop in the country.The 'purposeful dialogue' at the summit would open doors for greater collaboration between higher education institutes enable US-based community colleges to find partners and establish a footprint in India.
But 'for-profit companies' were not welcome in India for now, he said. 'That is not the model I am looking at or even wanting to encourage. I don't want India to be a ground in which on the fees that our children have to pay them for their studies they will give dividends to their shareholders'.
Initially the collaboration between US and Indian educational institutes would involve twinning arrangements, joint degrees, certification and diploma courses and skill development, he said.
'I don't think that we will have Harvard, Yale or Princeton coming in and setting up campuses in India. I doubt that very much, I don't think that is our vision either,' Sibal said.
It is important for the US educators to first get a feel of the Indian terrain and its complexities before they think in long term of bringing institutions to India, he said.
To pursue the agreed goals of the summit, India plans to set up an India-US higher education platform to carry the dialogue forward by helping identify and connect US institutions with suitable Indian educational partners.