India at the epicentre of global higher education: A call to action

The Hindu

28-04-2025

Higher education is changing historically in proportions never seen before. 'The current system of universities worldwide is unsustainable. It will fall eventually. New models will be developed grounded in technology. India is especially positioned in this developing global realignment to reframe', says Professor Piyush Sharma, John Curtin Distinguished Professor at Curtin University, Australia.
India as key architect
An acclaimed scholar in the area of internationalisation of higher education, Prof. Piyush, who teaches business, specifically international marketing at Curtin, sees India's role as a key architect of the future academic system rather than as a peripheral player. His remarks come at a time when the U.S. government under the new President is displaying purported ideological biases and governance shortcomings, and has already started large cuts to federal subsidies for top colleges.
At the same time, Australia and Canada are tightening their rules on overseas education and building fresh obstacles for student mobility. Concerns over false applications have led Australian colleges and universities, for example, to limit students from five Indian states, namely Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. These shake-ups expose a system struggling with internal conflicts that leave both a vacuum and an invitation for countries like India with a robust education system and infrastructure.
India: The global study destination
Initiated in 2018, the 'Study in India' programme has mapped out a way for India to occupy this void with vision and ambition. With over 8,000 courses spread across 600-plus universities and a goal of half a million overseas students by 2047, the initiative presents India as a convincing substitute. Still, as Professor Sharma warns, 'ethical concerns have to be resolved completely. No way governments or students outside India will let Indian agents and brokers violate policies.' More than capability and capacity, credibility will decide India's success.
The scaffolding for this ambition is supplied by the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It sees India as a 'global study destination' and supports the building of offshore Indian university campuses as well as invites esteemed international universities to open branches here. Appropriately called a 'force multiplier,' technology helps to provide access, inclusion, and quality.
According to a recent publication in Studies in Higher Education (Taylor & Francis, 2025), internationalisation has to be ingrained in curricula, pedagogy, governance systems, and research objectives rather than being a surface exercise. It issues a warning: 'mere student mobility does not amount to meaningful internationalization' and advocates more fundamental structural changes in Indian higher education to really compete globally. This realization emphasizes the need of implementing best practices outside of recruitment and directly relates with the promotion of NEP 2020 for total globalizing.
The edtech boom
India's vibrant edtech industry rather brilliantly reflects this ambition. Not only are sites like upGrad, Coursera India, and CL Educate, helping students gain admissions to acquire degrees and certifications; they are also tearing down the boundaries of geography, privilege, and traditional gatekeeping. UpGrad partners with leading universities to provide globally relevant degrees; Coursera India empowers students with world-class content; CL Educate develops from test preparation to career incubation; and customised online programmes anticipating industry needs.
Strategic interventions too have come from the University Grants Commission (UGC). Indian colleges can now more closely match worldwide academic calendars by enabling dual admissions rounds in June and December, hence improving their appeal to global students. Moreover, the UGC's support of online degrees for some colleges marks a paradigm change toward adaptable, lifetime learning environments.
Still, technology is a two-edged blade as the NEP sensibly notes. If not used sensibly, it can worsen rather than decrease inequalities. Thus, a calibrated approach — ensuring quality, accessibility, and ethical rigour — is absolutely essential.
Professor Sharma clearly expresses the urgency: 'Indian higher education institutions, and edtech players need to be five steps ahead of the rest of the globe to sustain leadership. And draw more scholars to India.'
Strategic goals exist. Curricula have to be global challenges — climate change, cybersecurity, migration — embedded within academic conversation, internationalised. Exposure to global best practices in instruction, research, and digital engagement must first take front stage in faculty development. Beyond ceremonial agreements, international collaborations must provide joint degrees, cooperative research projects, and reciprocal faculty exchanges.
Edtech systems have to create modular degrees, stackable certificates, and hybrid learning environments that fit different student profiles. Not as innovations but rather as requirements, technologies including VR-enabled simulations, blockchain-based certification, and AI-driven individualized learning routes must be mainstreamed.
Maintaining India's scholarly standing is just as important. 'We must firmly eradicate the spectre of unethical recruitment policies resulting in regional student bans overseas.' Perhaps, an independent regulatory agency for foreign student recruiting and support services could be the pillar for developing worldwide confidence, points out a retired bureaucrat.
Modernising higher education
Recent studies confirm this trend. Emphasizing that 'India's demographic advantage can only translate into a knowledge advantage if its higher education system modernises rapidly and embraces technology-driven expansion,' the Brookings Institution's 2024 study Likewise, UNESCO's 'Futures of Education' study urges redefining education outside of nationalistic conceptions toward promoting world citizenship.
The Taylor & Francis study also advises the integration of global focused research cultures and international accreditation criteria. It suggests that 'India's global education aspirations hinge on building robust quality assurance mechanisms that are internationally benchmarked,' therefore underlining the crucial part regulatory reform plays together with technology innovation.
Striking a balance between these worldwide aspirations and India's welfare-based government philosophy is still vital. Higher education cannot turn into an elitistic goal disconnected from the larger national goal of social fairness. By supporting more inclusivity through need-based scholarships, regional language education, and growth of digital public infrastructure including the National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT), the NEP 2020 clearly addresses this. Edtech companies and universities have to implement systems to make sure underprivileged areas are not left behind. By achieving this, India can create a higher education paradigm that shows justice and excellence, therefore enabling India to march ahead together.
With its young population, technological innovation, and legislative impetus, India has an attractive hand in this global reordering. Still, desire without careful execution would be a wasted heritage.
The university of the future will live across digital platforms, transnational partnerships, and immersive learning settings rather than only in sandstone buildings or ivy-clad campuses. It will call for flexibility, moral foresight, and an openness to reinterpret the basic goal of higher education.
The lines of global education are being rewritten. India's challenge is not just to take part but also to write the very blueprint of the new academic hierarchy.