Title: International Educational Relations Theme: Promotion of cross border education By: Surbhi Asthana Institute for Excellence

in Higher Education In the words of Shri A.P.J Abdul Kalam, When knowledge is fully lit, economy flourishes. A quality education is not only an essential human right, but it is also a motor for economic success. It brings sustainability to development. Today there is a need of adopting a multidimensional approach in education. The policies of globalisation and liberalisation need more encouragement in this field. Historical proofs suggest that ancient Indian universities like Takshila and Nalanda allowed free movement of knowledge, resources and their beneficiaries. Similarly, today we need to promote such cross border and cross cultural education. With growing demand of specialisation in various fields, there is a need for students to explore more in the sphere of education. Cross cultural education will help them explore and develop creativity, innovative skills, personality and social mobility. This will also develop in them, tolerance and acceptance regarding other cultures and adaptability towards global market. Efforts are being made by the modern global society to enhance the level of education. These efforts may include signing of different treaties between nations, establishment of meta-universities, cultural exchange programmes, virtual libraries, open source learning etc. Why: Knowledge knows no boundaries. A mans feet should be planted in his own country but his eyes should explore the world. There is infinite knowledge in this big world. From primitive culture to modern societies; from pictographs to systematised languages; from zero to infinity; from laws of motion to complex engineering; from earths surface to beneath the crust and to unending universe; we have explored a lot and are discovering new dimensions continuously. Considering such curiosity of humans and creational capabilities of human mind, education should not be bound within political and traditional boundaries. There is lot that we can learn from others and a lot that we can offer to others. Cross-border and cross-cultural education should be promoted by all nations to provide such exposure to scholars. A fuller description of cross-border education is included in the recent guidelines for

Quality Provision in Cross-border Higher Education jointly developed by UNESCO and the OECD. In that document, cross-border education is described as: Higher education that takes place in situations where the teacher, student, program, institution/provider or course materials cross national jurisdictional borders. Cross-border education may include higher education by public/private and not-for-prot/ for prot providers. It encompasses a wide range of modalities in a continuum from face-to-face (taking various forms from students travelling abroad and campuses abroad) to distance learning (using a range of technologies and including e-learning). Better exposure will provide more opportunities and this will lead to the promotion of mutual understanding between countries; migration of skilled workers in a globalised economy and creation of a more educated workforce. Students will get to know about other cultures, ethics, values, practices, modes and methods. This will also improve their confidence and overall personality. They will become rational, practical and tolerant human beings. Globalised education will lead to immense value creation in the market. The buzz word in1990s used to be globalisation. In the second decade of 21st century, the word that has gained importance and with a reason is Innovation. It is conversion of information into valuable knowledge and subsequently into a significant benefit that may take the form of new or improved products, processes or services. At present India ranks 62nd in the Global Innovation Index (source: Global Innovation Index Report 2011). Other major economies like U.S.A, U.K, Japan and China stand far ahead of us at 7th, 10th, 20th and 29th positions respectively. Innovation in India has so far been largely product centred. But we also require innovations in the techniques of production, modes and methods of inclusive development, infrastructure, and transport and also in the fields of water, food, energy, health and education. This can be achieved better through expansion of educational facilities outside the domestic borders. Cross border education will also provide social mobility to educational resources, infrastructure and its beneficiaries. Presently static knowledge and knowledgeable people will be put to circulation to the advantage of students all over the world. Students will be exposed to better and much wider career options. Lastly, it will create confident, competitive and skilled workforce adhering to the demands of present day market oriented economies.

What we can learn from others: Swami Vivekananda said, Knowledge is that which gives birth to a creation. Knowledge without implementation is useless. But in our nation, there is dearth of platform where the students can apply their knowledge practically. We need to design such curriculum which includes assignments, projects and researches which are less theoretical and requires more application. Off-site trainings or internships should be included in all courses. Such curriculum and practices are more effectively implemented in foreign countries. There is a wide range of career options in foreign countries and equally good switching opportunities. In India, infrastructure and resources are insufficient to provide this. Here, science students can switch to arts but arts students cant switch to science. There is also a difference between the approach towards education in the western countries and in India. Apparently, the foreign students treat education more like a learning process. They choose the line they are interested in and go only for that course and line of career. In this process, they tend to wait for the right kind of job and don't really consider time as a hindrance. On the other hand, the objective of education in India has more to do with a fat salaried job, overseas chances, better marriage prospects, status in society etc. Use of technology in education is another aspect which creates difference between western and Indian education. They have enhanced the quality and coverage area of educational facilities through techniques like open source learning, web castes of lectures of learned professors for well established universities, e-learning/virtual library, wi-fi facility, smart classes etc. India is far from implementing such methods. However, introduction of smart class, tools like Akash tablet are few big initiatives in this regard which show us a ray of hope. Recent trends: Various steps have been taken in India to establish educational relations with other countries. The Government of India, in August 2010 passed the Nalanda University Bill, to set up a Rs.1,005-crore international university at Nalanda in Bihar, where a varsity for Buddhist learning existed over 800 years ago. The Union government would provide land for the university, which would be established through voluntary funding from the East Asian Summit members. Singapore had announced funding of $ 4 million - $5 million for the Nalanda Universitys library through private donations. A

new Nalanda University, close to the old site, is now being established through an Act of the Indian Parliament, on a proposal of the East Asia Summit, with the cooperation of China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and other countries included in the East Asia Summit. The University will have an international campus is hoping to attract the brightest students and faculty from around the world and will bring global excellence into India. There are also various international affiliations that the University will have. These include "Friends of Nalanda" a group of advisors who we can turn to at various times for guidance and support. Since 2002, the Ministry has entered into exclusive Educational Exchange Programmes (in some cases called MoUs) with 32 countries (list of EEPs/ MOUs). These include Mongolia, Armenia, Tanzania, Guyana, Israel, Australia, Myanmar, Hungary, Syria, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Brazil, Afghanistan, Croatia, Ecuador, Rwanda, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, China, Portugal, France, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Oman, Norway and Chile signed earlier. EEPs/MOUs with Kuwait, Botswana and Malaysia were signed during 2009-10. In addition MOUs for mutual recognition and equivalence of degrees, diplomas and other educational qualifications with many countries are also under consideration. Four top universities in Delhi plan to start a meta university that will give college students the option to take courses across all of the universities in what is being described as a first-of-its kind effort in India. The University of Delhi, Jawaharlal University, the Indian Institute of Technology at Delhi, and Jamia Millia Islamia will start the venture in July and will offer fouryear degrees in contrast to the usual three-year bachelors degree in India. Dinesh Singh, vice-chancellor of the University of Delhi, said new models of education are essential in this age of global change. Sibal said that setting up of such Meta-Universities will be a welcome step in collaborating further in the higher education sector between the two countries. Such step is being taken by India at international level also. Two MoUs were signed IIT Mandi with University of Stuttgart representing TU9 Germany and University of Hyderabad with Westfalesehe Wilhelmns University of Germany. He suggested hosting an Indo-German Higher Education Summit in November December this year to explore issues like development of junior faculty including doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, mutual recognition of qualification, particularly in vocational education and joint research programmes.The Minister also emphasised on increasing the avenues for vocational education and setting up of joint ventures between

the two countries under public private partnership (PPP) model for skill enhancement. Actually meta-university or metaversity is an ad hoc arrangement drawing together resources from community of institutions to meet a specific educational or scholarly need that can not be met with the resources of a single university. It generally augments a degree program already in existence at a particular institution. This arrangement is designed and orchestrated by individuals within institutions rather than by the institutions themselves. These are often interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary in nature. Apart from various EEPs/MOUs, the Ministry of Human Resource Development also takes an active role in Joint Commission Meetings (JCM) and other economic/technical forums for cooperation with other countries. In addition, the Ministry has been making efforts for strengthening cooperation with foreign countries through other mechanisms too. As part of this, a trilateral MoU between India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) is in place since 2007 for cooperation in the field of higher education. Another MoU was signed on 21st January 2008 between Ministry of Human Resource Development and British High Commission for operation of the India-UK Higher Education Leadership Development Programme. Further, a Joint Statement between India and UK for strengthening cooperation and exchange in education was issued on 26th September 2008. A Joint Declaration was signed on 12th November, 2008 on cooperation in the field of Education between India & European Union. This was followed by signing of another Joint Declaration on multilingualism between India & European Union on 7th March, 2009. A Joint Declaration between India and Czech Republic for cooperation in education sector was signed on 28th April 2009. The Chevening Scholarships are amongst the world's top scholarship schemes and provides scholarships to around 1000 leaders from over 130 countries to study in UK every year. It was launched in 1983 and India was one of the first 39 countries to send scholars. The Chevening India Programme is now the UK's second largest scholarship programme globally. It has, over the years, given a unique opportunity to over 1800 talented Indians to study in Britain, develop their skills and think of the UK as their partner of choice as they become opinion-makers in their own fields. Chevening Gurukul is a unique 12-week, advanced leadership programme, created by the renowned London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) specifically for Indias future leaders. It was launched in 1997 to mark

50 years of Indias independence Relations with USA in the field of education received a major thrust following the visit of US Secretary of State in July 2009. Taking it forward, Honble Minister of Human Resource Development visited USA during October 25-31, 2009 and held discussions with his counterpart US Secretary of Education as well as heads of several top Universities in USA. An important new initiative in the field of education, called the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative has been launched jointly by India and USA on November 24, 2009 during the visit of Honble Prime Minister to USA. Honble Minister of Human Resource Development also visited United Kingdom (UK) on January 13-16, 2010 to attend the 2nd India-UK Education Forum meeting as well as to hold discussions with UK Ministers/top government functionaries in the field of education. It is heard that recent discussions have taken place between India and Thailand. As part of that, a Free Trade Agreement will shortly be signed between both countries. As part of the agreement, focus will be on boosting the economic and educational ties between both countries. Recently, the premiere of Thailand was visiting India as part of the Republic Day celebrations. Both nations are positive that this agreement will surely strengthen their ties and it would also prove beneficial for citizens of both countries. Further details about this would be revealed soon. Tripura Central University is gearing up to set a Bangladesh Study Centre soon. The objective is to teach Indian students about the neighbouring nation. Recently, a memorandum of understanding was reportedly signed between both educational institutions such as University of Chittagong, Dhaka University and Tripura Central University.The initiative will include exchange of scholars, faculties, curricula for students and academicians. Even research projects would be undertaken as part of this agreement. Conclusion: It is enlightening to examine the rationales and anticipated impacts of crossborder education from dierent viewpoints. Owing to the scope and pace of change, society has become increasingly knowledge-based so that higher learning and research now act as essential components of cultural, socioeconomic and environmentally sustainable development of individuals, communities and nations. Let us remain hopeful that borderless education

will prevail among nations in the near future. Knowledge will break all boundaries and resources will be mobile. A digitally literate generation of young people will be able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by access to virtual classrooms and virtual laboratories. Remote access to rare or expensive resources can help small, low-budget universities enjoy access to infrastructure of the same quality as large, well-endowed ones. At last, according to Education World Forum that took place in London from 9th -11th January 2012, the motto of education must be Learning from the best for a world of change.

References: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) Rankings; Global Innovation Index Report, 2011 Chapter 3: Innovation in India; Global Innovation Index Report, 2011 Website: Ministry of Human Resource Development Website: UNESCO Global Education Digest, 2011 Education World Forum, Global Summit (London, 10 January 2012) Report 7) Website: Chevening Scholarships, British Council 8) Website: International Bureau of Education