American Partnership in Indian University Education

India Attracts Universities from the U.S.,New York Times, March 26,2007.
 The New York Times publishes once in a while reports about the Indian University education.The following two columns that appeared in the paper at differnt times show the new enthusiasm that has gripped the Indian Univeristy system to update itself and make it competititve with the best in the U.S.
But it is difficult to make changes when  the University Education system is governed by many rules and regulations.The State governments under whose jurisdiction are many of the public universities do not want to lose their control over them.What is experienced is a great amount of stagnation.
There are many factors playing in  this field that it is difficult to envision any rapid changes in the system.The University Education in Kerala , in particualr, is affected by affected by unbelievable stagnation and apathy.The political parties that control the government are reluctant to allow the system to grow and devlop.Many good colleges with great reputation for excellence are under the Universities of Kerala.As they are affiliated to the State Universities, the State Governemnt is reluctant to allow autonomy for these  colleges. Hence, these colleges are never rated for excellence by various accrediting agencies. The only way to help colleges to develop is to grant them autonomy.
 The New York Times:
"Some 40 percent of population(in India) is under 18,and a scarcity of higher education opportunities is frequently cited as a potential hurdle to economic progress."
"The growing American interest in Indian education reflects a confluence of trends.It comes as American Universities are trying to expand their global reach in general, and discovering India's economic rise in particualr.It also reflects the need for India to close its gaping demand for higher education."
"Among Indians ages 18 to 24, only 7 percent enter a University, according to the National Knowledge Commission.To roughly double the precentage--effectively bringing it up to par with the rest of Asia--the commission recmmends the creation of 1500 colleges and Universities over the next several years."
"The commission estimates that 160,000 Indians are studying abroad, spending an estimated $4 billion a year."
Madeleine Green, vice president for international initiatives at the American Council on Education, calls India"the next frontier" for American institutions...Most American institutions are opting to join hands with existing Indian institutions...Columbia is the latest of several foreign business schools to tie up with the Ahmedbad campus...the Americanization of Indian education is following a variety of approaches."
Champlain college, based in Burlington,VT. runs a satellte campus in Mumbai.California state university, Long Beach, has agreed to help start Americn -style, four year degree programs at state-run Lucknow University...Cornell University is seeking to expand research collaborations.Rice university envisions faculty and student exchanges....Carneggie Mellon offers its degree in partenrship with Shri Shiv Shankar Nadar College of Engineering.Most of the course work is done at relatively inexpensive rates here in India, followed by six months in Pittsburgh, at the end of which students graduate with a Carneggie Mellon degree."(Somini Sengupta)
India Students Wield Tests and Tutorials,NYtimes,March 24,10
"Higher Education presents a problem of quantity and quality.Even as India's students are world class,most Indian universities are not...In 2008, 320,000 students took the school(IIT) entrance exams for 8000 vacancies.(Jim Yardley)
"Education presents such a stubborn problem, especially access to quality education, that experts warn that the future advantages of India's youthful population could become a disadvantage if the governement cannot improve the system rapidly enough to provide more students a chance at college.Of the 186 million students in India, only 12.4 percent are enrolled in higher education, one of the lowest ratios in the world.
"India has one of the world's youngest populations, often called its "demographic dividend,"yet as the middle class has steadily grown, so has the cutthroat competition for the limited slots in the country's system of higher education."
"If you have 150 million or 160 million children who don't go to college, what is going to happen to them 10 or 15 years from now?", asked Kapil Sibil, the Minister of Education."The demographic dividend will become a demographic disaster."