Foreign colleges will neither have unfettered entry nor unbridled operations in India. The draft of a bill that intends to regulate foreign educational institutions imposes conditions, including reserving seats for candidates from backward classes, for the entry and operation of foreign education providers in India.The proposed bill will bring admissions, programmes — even their course content — in the ambit of Indian law.The number of foreign educational institutions operating in India doubled in the past five years, to 319. There is no mechanism to ensure quality presently and some of these institutions were found not to have even a verifiable address in their home country, officials told The Indian Express.Fourteen percent of them were not accredited in their respective home country — 31 per cent of their Indian partners were not accredited here.• The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of entry, operations and maintenance of quality and prevention of commercialisation) Bill 2005 proposes to ban institutions which are not accredited in their home country, ‘‘established under a foreign law — and notified as an institution deemed to be university by the central government’’, from offering courses in India.• Such institutions ‘‘shall be responsible to ensure’’ that their programmes in India are ‘‘of comparable quality to the ones offered and delivered in the home country’’.• Foreign Education Provider (FEP) will have to ‘‘take into account the cultural and linguistic sensitivities of the people of India’’ and ‘‘no course shall be offered which, adversely affect the sovereignty and integrity of India’’.• Fees charged by foreign providers will have to be approved by an Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee. They will also be subject to the prevalent norms of reservations in India.• FEP will have to get themselves registered with a registrar who will have to ensure the ‘‘qualities and standards are met’’.• Those who offer courses which are not authorised as per the new law will be liable to return the fees and imprisonment up to three years. They could be fined between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh for violation of the provisions.• Foreign universities operate in India through franchises, online distant learning programmes, twinning arrangement with Indian institutions and by way of Indian bodies offering foreign degrees. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and NAAC had, on earlier occasion, announced guidelines for these activities, but the government feels a legislation is necessary. ‘‘The bill will be more of a facilitating one rather than restrictive,’’ explained an official.
