The move comes after the government permitted foreign universities to set up campuses in India. These decisions are being made as part of putting the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 into action.
From now on, UGC will be in charge and will provide equivalence. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has put together a committee to figure out how to give two degrees the same academic weight after NEP 2020. Thanks to this year’s union budget, foreign universities can now set up campuses in GIFT city.
Key Highlight:
- The University Grants Commission (UGC) has formed a three-member group to establish criteria for academic equivalence between international and Indian degrees.
- The government has allowed international colleges to open up campuses in India, including GIFT City, and work with Indian universities to grant joint, double, and twin degrees.
- UGC will offer equivalence after the norms are finalized.
- This year’s union budget allowed foreign colleges to build up in GIFT city.
- In April, the UGC constituted a committee to allow top-500 international universities to open up campuses in India.
- During the March budget session, the administration told Lok Sabha that two international higher education institutes are interested in setting up campuses in India.
Officials said on Tuesday that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has set up a three-person committee to create guidelines for giving foreign degrees the same academic value as their Indian counterparts. The guidelines will be based on the academic equivalence principle.
The move came after the government let foreign universities set up campuses in India, including the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), and made it possible for them to work with Indian universities to offer joint, double, and twin degrees. As part of carrying out the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, these decisions are being made.
So far, the Union ministry of education has given the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), a group of India’s most important universities, the job of giving equivalence certificates to students who went to school or college abroad.
But once the guidelines are made, UGC will take over and ensure that everything is the same from then on.
Jagadesh Kumar, who is in charge of the UGC, said, “The UGC has put together a group of experts to suggest how two degrees should be treated in the post-NEP 2020 world.” It will take the committee about four weeks. The public will be given a chance to comment on the recommendations. The commission will then agree with them, and they will become rules about how degrees are equal. From now on, providing equivalence will be the job of the UGC.”
Kumar said that the commission is working on making an online process for equivalence certificates easy for all parties to use. “For example, in GIFT city, foreign universities will set up campuses, and our Indian students will go there to get degrees. So, when they apply for another degree or a job in India, the Indian institutions will want to know if that foreign degree is the same as ours,” he said.
The union budget for this year made it possible for foreign universities to set up in GIFT city. In April, the UGC set up a committee to develop rules that would let foreign universities in the top 500 in the world set up campuses in India.
During the budget session in March, the government told Lok Sabha that two foreign higher education institutions are interested in setting up campuses in India. These are the Istituto Marangoni in Milan and another one in France.
