Bhutan Students India's aim to open doors to foreign universities to benefit Bhutanese students
India is going to open its doors to foreign universities and this is likely to help Bhutanese students who aim to study abroad without bearing the huge cost of going away to far-off nations.
These institutes will conduct undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, post-doctoral and other programmes and award degrees, diplomas and certificates in all disciplines, on a standalone basis, with the prior approval of the UGC, reports The Bhutan Live.
The new draft norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC), a body charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education in India, are set to allow foreign universities to set up campus, decide admission process, decide fees and repatriate funds to their parent campuses, media reports said.
The released draft says it will not allow the foreign universities to offer any "programme of study that jeopardises the national interest of India or the standards of higher education in India."
"The operation of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions shall not be contrary to the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency, or morality," the draft added.
A few Europe-based universities have already "shown interest" in setting up campuses by foreign universities, said UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar releasing the draft last month.
The similar liberal approach was earlier also taken by the then Congress-led UPA government but faced opposition from the now ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) besides the Left.
