Mumbai: To ‘Study in India’ for higher education, the government should first improve the current state of colleges and institutes, claim educationists, teachers and students. They have questioned the plans and allocation of funds to the education sector to attract more foreign students to study in India. But most feel it lacks focus on improving the quality of education. Educationists have welcomed the ‘Study in India’ programme, but have questioned the current state of higher education.
Avkash Jadhav, a senior teacher of St Xavier’s College, Fort, said, “We welcome this programme, but it is scary to think, when foreign students will come to study here they will see the quality of higher education being imparted. We should first focus on improving the quality of higher education, provide institutions with better faculties, infrastructure and add courses, along with upgrading the syllabus. Moreover, foreign books and qualified teachers need to be in place.” Many teachers said foreign students should be attracted towards government institutions instead of private ones.
Ranjana Desai, a senior teacher and former principal, said, “When students from India go abroad to study. They invest in education which directly contributes to the economy of that country. Similarly, when foreign students come here, they should be admitted to government institutions, which can directly help our economy. This will also compel our government to improve the state of their own colleges and universities.” The allocation of Rs400 crore to the education sector is rather paltry, when one takes into consideration research, skill development and sports.
Shaheen Khan, an education expert, said, “The implementation of skills training, research, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science will help students gain a broader perspective and experience. It cannot be done with such low contribution.” Higher education is more than just infrastructure and new colleges or institutions, claim educationists. The principal of a South Mumbai College, said, “Change of books, syllabus, method of teaching, facilities for learning are crucial and require additional funding. Also, salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff and new courses are issues, which need redressal on priority.”
