NEW DELHI, January 23: With a plethora of foreign universities setting up franchises in India, Britain has proposed a task force to keep tabs on their courses and functioning.The idea was mooted to ensure that Indian institutions that tie up with British universities maintain the same standards that they would for students back home in the UK. While the task force proposal was put forward to officials in the Human Resources Development Ministry during the recent visit of the UK Minister for Education and Employment, the reaction of the Ministry has been cautious. Establishing a monitoring body follows the concern in India that attracted by the enormous demand for such degrees, certain fly-by-night operators may cheat students eager to get that "phoren degree". "Such a task force would guarantee that high quality education available in British universities are on offer in India," the Minister, Baroness Blackstone, told The Indian Express.The HRD ministry's response to the proposal is guarded. Currently, a public interest litigation involving foreign universities offering degree-level courses is pending before the Chennai High Court. And as the matter is sub judice, ministry officials are loath to comment on the monitoring aspect of the task force. However, Indian officials are enthusiastic about setting up a body which could identify cooperation, decide on the kind of courses to be offered and examination procedures to be followed."A body with experts from both countries, including representatives from the University Grants Commission, the Association of Indian Universities and other experts, to discuss and identify areas of cooperation in education, would be a welcome development," said Education Secretary P R Dasgupta. The British are keen on a monitoring role for the task force, more so "to ensure that British universities do not fall into the trap of linking up with an inadequate or poor institution here and in the process damage the reputation of British universities," said Blackstone.The fallout of the opening up of the Indian economy and the advent of the multinational corporations into the country, is the growing interest in business and commerce related courses. This has been accompanied by a decline in students opting for the humanities and pure science streams.
