Truly International?

Recently, I was invited to the launch of a new international programme by an institute in the city. I was curious to see what could this programme possibly offer that makes it so international. To my utter dismay, it was just an accreditation that they had received from some obscure university in another country, just because they could not get it from the governing bodies in our own Bharat desh . This was not the first time. And this will not be the last . With Indians having a fascination for all the things ‘ foreign ‘ , institutes are leaving no stone unturned to bring in the word ‘international’ in any way they can. Even if it is just the name! So you have tie-ups, where a lot of money is exchanged for using a  name; you have international faculty visits that last exactly four days of the whole programme; and you have the curriculum being borrowed from an institute abroad. The question that arises then is, what does international constitute? “I think to make a programme international, it is important to get an international mindset in,” says Rajeshwar Upadhaya, who has an MBA with specialisation in international management from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, USA. He is a visiting faculty at The Indian School of Business, Hyderabad where he teaches leadership development. He adds that merely getting an Indian professor with an Indian mindset to deliver the content offered by an overseas university does not do justice to either party. According to him, either the institute should invest in inviting international faculty to the campus or sending the local professor abroad to widen his horizon. Dr Rajan Saxena, Vice Chancellor of NMIMS University couldn’t agree more. He mentions that NMIMS engages in faculty development in conjunction with Harvard University. “That said, however, I do feel that even without being advertised, many of our Indian management curricula have evolved and can match international standards,” he adds.

According to him, the use of the word ‘international’ in the name of the programme or for merely promoting a programme is not going to yield any benefits. For becoming truly global, students have to be prepared in such a way that they can deal with a situation keeping in mind the standards and practices across the world. Another way institutes are going about becomingm ‘international’ is by tying-up for conferring the degrees, if certain standards are adhered to. The idea is that students can earn an international degree while not even travelling out of the country. Though this might sound attractive to many students who cannot afford to go to another country to study, educationists condemn it as just a tactic to lure gullible students into spending more just for a name.

“Very often, the curriculum comprises the same stale list of electives and subjects, but suddenly, due to the tie-up, the fees can be hiked,” says a marketing professor who does not want to be named. In fact, now, even twinning programmes are becoming popular, judging by the number of these being offered. Of course, you have to pay for it, and there will be a bait in the form of a tiny scholarship.

As opposed to these institutions, we do have a handful which have adopted ‘international’ in a true sense, or are at least trying to get there. The Indian School of Business in Hyderabad has tie ups with many international institutions to exchange curricula, case studies and also, to have the faculty over to Hyderabad for the semester to deliver the modules designed to be international. It is also constantly working towards getting more international students to study at the school to bring about true global exchange. Several other institutions boast of the curricula being designed by international bodies, but finally, the delivery of such modules depends, on teachers who have no idea how these can be dealt with at an international level. Many other reputed institutions have regular interaction with their counterparts outside India and exchange mutually beneficial material. In the bargain, the students gain a lot. These institutions, however, do not need to advertise it. It is a part of their process. Too much advertising, therefore, can lead one to believe that it is merely a gimmick to make money. “If we want to go international in the true sense then we need to give students the freedom to choose their courses across disciplines and earn credits that add towards a degree as a whole,” is Dr Saxena’s opinion. Like him, many educationists believe that what makes a course international is the treatment: treatment of the students, the faculty and the subject matter. Then the word ‘international’will not only be an adjective, it will be a real feeling.

Volume 1 Issue 7