While internationalisation is the newest buzz word in academic circles
around the world, education institutions face different challenges when trying
to make their mark in the globalised world.
Britain ’s Anglia Ruskin University hosted a round table in Delhi recently to discuss
“Internationalisation and its impact on student experiences.” The initiative
was part of the British university’s continued focus and commitment to South Asia .
Institutions in the South Asian region have similar opportunities and
challenges but there is currently no regional initiative at the higher
education level that focuses on collaboration. There are very few examples of
institutions sharing their experiences with each other on how they are meeting the demographic
challenge; what is working; what is failing and working together to do what
needs to be done.
Policy makers and senior academics from universities in the Asian sub
continent (India , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) participated in the
discussion, which ended up as a lively, interactive exchange of ideas and
strategies that would help participating varsities collaborate with each other
and promote internationalisation at their campuses.
Participants included Professor Michael Thorne, Vice Chancellor of Anglia
Ruskin University; Professor K S Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore; Dr Rajan Welukar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mumbai; Dr G James
Pitchai, Vice-Chancellor, Bharathiar University; Professor Erinjery Joseph
James, Karunya University; Major General Milinda Peiris, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Colombo; Professor Abdus Sattar, NorthSouthUniversity, Bangladesh; Professor Rahman, Daffodil International University,
Bangladesh; Dr Prem Nair, Amrita University; Dr Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, Pro
Vice Chancellor, Calcutta University; Professor SH Pawar, Vice-Chancellor,
DY Patil University, Kolhapur; and Sangeet Jaura, Associate Vice President, Chitkara University.
Academics at the round table: Collaboration on the cards |
In India
for instance, collaboration between universities and education institutions for
research, teacher mobility, student mobility for research, joint degrees, and
academic exchanges through partnerships and collaboration is prominent on the
Government’s agenda. Indian universities are promoting research collaborations
with foreign universities and this trend is going to continue to grow in the
future. The Indian Government has been prioritising resources in favour of
joint research collaborations and has increased allocations to research
councils.
However India hasn’t
had much of a success in the race to be an education hub unlike Singapore , Malaysia
and Dubai . Sri Lanka
on the other hand has a focused plan to attract foreign investment in the
higher education sector – an initiative
which has strong government support.
With the participating universities promising to work with each other at
the round table, their internationalisation strategies and efforts should get
the much-needed shot in the arm.
According to Anglia Ruskin academics, progress from the round table will
be monitored and reviewed for the next one to be held in 2014.
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