There is a Coursera course titled Importance of India. I am posting here my essay submission for the peer review assignment in that course, many aspects of the course is incorporated in this essay. it is hoped that some may find it interesting and may even get encouraged to start an extension University in India.
To Dr. Hunter
R, Rawlings III
President,
Cornell University
Office of
the President
300 Day
Hall, Ithaca
NY 14853, USA
Dear Mr. President:
Subject:
Establishing Cornell University Extension Campus in India
Cornell University has shown great Interest in establishing an
Extension campus in India. The College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University
has had a longstanding relationship with State Universities in India, as well
as other public and private organisations, to develop various agricultural
education and extension programs. Recently Tata Education trust has created a $
25 million Endowment. to establish the Tata-Cornell
Initiative in Agriculture and Nutrition, which will contribute to advances
in nutrition and agriculture for India. I understand that the goal of the
new agriculture initiative between Tatas and Cornell is to improve the
productivity, sustainability and profitability of India's food system,
with the aim of reducing poverty and malnutrition. Connell University’s
involvement and commitment to India is highly commendable. I am writing to you
to request you consider increase Cornell University’s involvement in and Focus
on India by opening a full-fledged Extension Campus in India. I present facts
and figures in the following paragraphs as to why this might be a good and
timely Idea.
Some Relevant Indian Demographic Statistics:
India currently has a population of 1,325.000 ,000
(approximately 1 in 6 in the world is an Indian and 1 in 8 is a rural Indian).
Even though the birth rate has come down from about 4.2% In 1960s to about 2.0%
at present, the population has grown to this extend due improved health and
life expectancy of the Indian folks (The Death rate has come down from about
2.4% to about 0.8% in the same period). This population is 4 times the
population of USA and more people live in India than USA and Europe combined or
whole of Africa. And the land area of India is only a third of USA or a tenth
of Africa. The Indian Population density is 3 times that of China and 12 times
that of USA.
By the year 2020 India will have one of the
youngest population in the world with 2/3 of the population in the working age
of 18 to 65. 19% of the workers in the world will be Indian. Share of workers
from China is expected to go down from 23% to 14%. This demographic scenario
may be nightmarish if jobs cannot be found for this growing population or great
‘dividend with large number of young workers earning, consuming and paying
taxes and having less dependants. During
the year 1990 USA had 35 Million graduates in the work force and in the same
year China had 17 million graduate and India 16 million graduates in the work
place. Today all three nations have about 54 million graduates in the Workforce
and by 2030 this number is expected to raise to 208 million India; the similar
number for USA and China are projected to be 185 million and 138 million. Also
only about 14% of the students who finish high school go on to enrol in
colleges in India. Hence vast scope exists for college level education in India.
As it is there are about 900 Universities and 40000 colleges in India and almost one university is added
every week. However, the Industry experts feel only about 25% of the graduates
are fit to be employed right out of college. Therefore, a well recognised International university has a vast scope in establishing quality education in India.
A view of Indian Economy in this context:
Indian Economy is currently 7th
largest in the world, accounting for only 3% of the Global GDP. In terms of
purchase Parity GDP, China is the largest, followed by USA and India at third
place. Right now Indian GDP is growing faster than that of China and is
projected to be World’s largest economy in the latter half of the 21st
Century. Between now and 2050, Indian Economy will grow to be 8 times and its
share in global economy will double. In the same time period, the Share of
Chinese economy is projected to increase by 17% and that USA is expected to
decrease by 19% and that of Europe decrease by 30%. Even though India will
emerge as the largest economy, due its huge population, it will remain a low to
middle income country in terms of per capita income with USA and Europe
retaining high income status even then.
This economic growth needs highly educated
population to sustain it and as the income level grows more and more folks will
be able to afford Higher tuition fees required to run a Global Standard
Institution.
Indian Agricultural Scenario and Cornell’s Role
India is blessed with soil that is arable and
sufficient amount of rainfall to ensure that 50% of the land is arable and two
crops can be harvested each year and with a little innovation and better water management
even three crops are possible is most arable areas. With the Current high population
and ever growing population, it is important that the agriculture development
is being given high priority and CALS can contribute by establishing a
Agricultural University in rural India. Cornell May also include graduate level
executive education and graduate level IT Courses in such a university.
India the Hub of Global Research and Development:
Let us consider the following facts:
1)
928 MNCs have Research and
Development Centers in India
2)
More than 300,000 people employed in
Product Development
3)
In the year 2015, 40% of all the globalised Engineering R&D expenditure by MNCs was spent in India
With India becoming such Hub of research and
development for Global MNCs. The need for global qualified students will be on
the increase and this is a great opportunity for Cornell to address. When
Cornell establishes such an university in India and with a low fee structure
affordable by local Indians, the students from other low income countries and
low income communities in wealthy countries (like USA, Europe, Asia and middle East). One can imagine what boon
it would be for a student in low income group in USA who cannot afford the fees
in the Ithaca Campus, can actually enrol in the Indian Cornell University
where the fee structure would be more affordable. This type of reverse benefit
can also arise if one establishes university in India
Indian Government objectives on higher education and Regulations
regarding establishing extension university in India by foreign universities
India is planning a massive expansion of its
higher education system over the next decade. The Indian government has a
stated goal to increase higher education participation rates to 30% by 2022
from 18% today – a target that will require the creation of an additional 14
million spaces in the country’s higher education institutions over the next six
years. Government spending on higher education amounts to about 1% of GDP
currently, and the National Knowledge Commission has projected a required
investment of up to US$190 billion in order for the country’s education system
to expand sufficiently to allow it to reach its 2022 targets. An expansion of
the scale and pace that is currently being anticipated will likely only be done
in collaboration with the private sector, and, observers increasingly point
out, through a wide range of partnerships with foreign providers.
The question goes well beyond the need to create
a large number of additional seats. There are significant quality issues in
higher education in India, and also persistent issues with respect to the employ ability of graduates. The country is concerned therefore with expanding
its tertiary system, but also with improving equity of access and quality
across the board.
The Indian Government new regulations permit
foreign institutions to establish branch campuses in India and confer foreign
degrees. There are, however, a number of eligibility requirements.
Foreign operators of branch campuses in India
must:
·
Be not-for-profit;
·
Have been in existence for at least
20 years;
·
Be accredited by a reputable organization;
·
Be ranked in the top 400 in one of
three global rankings: the UK-based Times Higher Education or Quacquarelli
Symonds (QS) rankings, or the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of
World Universities;
·
Offer course content as good as that
offered via their main campuses;
·
Not repatriate money earned on
Indian soil or distribute profit or dividends to members.
Cornell University meets all this criterion and
is eligible to open an extension campus in India. The requirement of being Non Profit
and not repatriate the money earned may be too harsh. However, this should not
discourage Cornell from going ahead as the conservative approach to government
regulations in India is slowly giving way to more market driven and conducive
atmosphere.
Cornell university may tie-up with a local
private sector body like Tata Education trust and start the extensions Campus.
Georgia Institute of technology is already tied up with Infosys to start an
extension campus. Another route that might be considered is to tie up with an
existing university to offer degree programs. This route has been chosen by
Carnegie Mellon University who have tied up with SSN University, Chennai to
offer degree programs. The choice of Indian partner might be critical in the
success of the venture and sufficient effort should be devoted to the selection
of this partner based on various criteria.
Whichever route the Cornell University takes
will prove to be productive in the long run. Any regulatory bottlenecks can be
worked out as the regulatory environment in India is changing to foster
competition and quality.
Considering all of the above facts on the
demographic and economic factors in India, the great and urgent need for
quality degree programs in India, the objective of Indian Government to provide
quality education in India and the changing regulatory environment in India, I
request (recommend) that Cornell university to decide and establish an
Extension campus in India with higher education focus in Agriculture, Executive
Development and Information Technology. Cornell has the added advantage of
having close tie up with Tata Educational Trust and can partner with this trust
to achieve the Indian objectives.
Thank You and with Regards
M.K. Vasudevan
PS: My daughter Divya Vasudevan earned her
Master’s degree in Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell
University and graduated in the year 2013. We Visited your great campus during
her convocation and enjoyed our stay.
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