Need to look at internationalisation of education holistically: MEA

Internationalisation of education does not only mean sending Indian students abroad but also welcoming foreign students into the country, Dinesh Patnaik, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, said on Thursday. Patnaik was addressing the two-day Education Summit here which is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

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"We need to look at internationalisation of education holistically. It does not only mean sending Indian students abroad but also welcoming foreign students in India," he said. "The government is working on a global students' platform which gives information regarding all educational institutions of the world at one place for ease of students," Patnaik added.

The summit is being attended by academicians, government representatives as well as stakeholders of the education sector. "The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had begun working on internationalisation of higher education even before this word became fashionable," Akhilesh Mishra, Director General, Indian Council for Culture Relations (ICCR), said at the event.

Dean of International Relations at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Mahesh Panchagnula, pitched for dual degree programmes for foreign students. "We need to bridge measures and dual degree programmes for foreign students so that they can start looking at India as a positive education option," he said at the conclave.

The CII also released a survey on preparedness of Indian institutions on standard operating processes followed for attracting and onboarding international students. According to the survey, better outreach procedures are required to meet India's target of 1.5-2.5 lakh international students by 2022.

"While 95 per cent institutions said they get international students through government agencies such as EdCIL and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 96 per cent institutions depend on their websites to do the promotion. Roughly 47 per cent also use social media, mainly Facebook," the survey said.

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