We just talk about the good stuff

Dave Fougere is chief operating officer at The Kaplan Languages Group – a brand comprising Kaplan International Languages, ESL and Alpadia following a merger in 2019. He spoke to The PIE about the post-pandemic rebuild, ‘turbocharged’ growth in Europe and lessons from the past few years.

The Kaplan Languages Group – which comprises Kaplan International Languages, ESL and Alpadia – is “stronger than ever”, Fougere tells The PIE in a meeting at Kaplan’s Palace House location in London, the new location for Kaplan’s 30+ school. And being together has “really helped the bounce back from the pandemic”.

“Now, of course, if you’re ill and you’re in bed for months and months and months, you can’t just jump up and run a marathon,” he says. “And KLG was not immune to all of the kinds of challenges that the whole industry faced as we emerged from the pandemic,” he notes, pointing to teacher staffing and hosts to accommodate students.

But, along with “certain choices” made the during the pandemic such as shrinking the footprint of US schools, the fact that Kaplan had ESL and Alpadia on its side after the 2019 merger as well as the backing of a “very strong and supportive parent company” in Graham Holdings, KLG is returning to a strong position in the sector.

“In 2022, we exceeded our recovery target,” Fougere says. “And we’re expecting a strong year in 2023.

“We refocused our portfolio in the US during the pandemic. We had 16 schools when we went into the crisis in the US and now we have seven,” he details, bringing the total in North America to nine.

“That was a hard decision because we lost a lot of fantastic team members, but it was necessary. We had to do it.”

And the US continues to be a challenge, with issues around visa processing and surges towards study destinations that are viewed as more open, more welcoming, such as Canada and Australia. Especially difficult are locations “further afield from the beaten track”, while locations in big cities including New York, LA and Boston are doing relatively well.

“France has been an incredibly strong country for KLG”

ESL has continued to operate under its own brand that has been around in Europe for 20 years, but merging has allowed the Kaplan to strengthen its foothold on the continent.

“The vision behind the ESL and Alpadia acquisition hit full stride in 2022,” Fougere explains.

“During that time, there was a massive shift in demand for us from some Asian countries that took a longer time to come out of the pandemic to Europe,” allowing Kaplan to “turbocharge” its recovery in Europe.

“So we’ve seen, in all of our schools, more Europeans. There’s some countries that have just exploded.

“France has been an incredibly strong country for KLG. We have an amazing team on the ground, made up of both a strong Kaplan office and the ESL offices there. And further adding to KLG’s recovery success was the expansion of our Bogota office to 75 team members,” he says.

The PIE ventures that the sector could have been sceptical of the merger when it was first announced, that competitor schools may have suspected that Kaplan would be favoured ahead of them. According to Fougere, that has not been the case.

“We have shown that it has worked,” he notes. “We had no ambition to change the ESL name to Kaplan or to convert ESL offices to Kaplan agencies.

“We wanted to maintain that identity. And ESL is still a stand-alone agency. The ESL teams work with and advise students on the best possible path for them. Yes, Kaplan is a significant part of the portfolio, but we also offer competitor language schools and will continue to do so.”

ESL portfolio is not exactly the same before and after the acquisition, he acknowledges. But the ESL portfolio has over 200 schools. Kaplan has 24 schools in total.

“Kaplan doesn’t have schools everywhere and there are certain places in the world where we’re not interested in having schools. In order to offer a full portfolio to students coming into an ESL office, we have maintained those partners.”

A lesson from the pandemic he mentions are possibilities online. “Even when things started to open up, we’re still seeing a strong demand for 15-hour a week online classes. We were going to phase out the online school and go back to doing what we did before with in-classroom teaching, but we’re keeping the online school open with plans to develop and grow that offering.”

The importance of strong partners is another lesson. “One of the intentional decisions we made during the pandemic was to support our agent partners. We tried to do everything we could to help them get through the pandemic so that, at the end of the pandemic, our relationships were stronger than ever.”

And despite success in Europe, Brexit continues to be a test for UK ELT.

“It poses challenges,” Fougere states. Europeans now need passports and staffing is expected be an increasing difficulty for the UK, as highlighted by other stakeholders.

“We’ve seen demand for Dublin skyrocket and we’re doing everything we can to respond to that demand. We maxed out in Dublin last year. We’d like to take more students. Dublin is an absolutely hot destination right now

“We’ve seen demand for Dublin skyrocket”

“It is driven by Brexit, but students still want to come to the UK. The UK and Ireland is the part of the overall portfolio that’s really booming.”

In the past a team at London office led on direct sales to the European market, which is no longer the case. But is it an obstacle that the merger with ESL and Alpadia has quelled.

“Part of the acquisition of ESL was their headquarters is in Barcelona with a strong team. We’re straddling the UK and Barcelona offices. Our marketing team, for example, is one of the ones that’s integrated and split between London and Barcelona.”

Another opportunity for English language students in Ireland, especially European students, is the option to work.

Interest in work depends a lot on the demographic of student, Fougere responds when asked whether ELT students should have options to work during their studies.

“A lot of students, particularly Latin American students, will plan a long term stay and need to work in order to finance their time in that country, in which case Australia and Ireland would make a lot of sense because that’s easy for them to do so.

“Students can’t work in the UK, they can’t work in the US. But anything students can do to get them into the community and immerse themselves and use the language is going to help them improve their English level. And, you know, add to that living with a host, as opposed to in a residence, because that’s going to help their language improve a lot faster.”

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The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration held a special event at the Kennedy Institute in Boston to discuss the role of higher education in “facilitating immigration pathways, developing talent and potential, and reducing barriers to integration and naturalisation”.

Panellists included university leadership, industry CEOs, immigration experts, government officials and international students.

In her opening remarks, Miriam Feldblum, executive director and co-founder of the Presidents’ Alliance asked how higher education is “embracing our role as an immigration pathway” and how leaders can “accelerate inclusion”.

The opening panel was composed of foreign-born, naturalised higher education leaders who discussed their own immigrant integration journey.

“I was able to go to college,” said president of Bunker Hill Community College, Pam Eddinger. “But I think of all the folks I left behind. It shaped the way I see talent. It’s not necessarily about talent in general, but where opportunity is placed.”

Javier Reyes, incoming chancellor at University of Massachusetts Amherst agreed. “You can have remarkable capabilities and desires but not opportunities,” he asserted.

As such, panellists advocated for increased opportunities for “the best and brightest” students of all backgrounds.

“People are on the move…we can play a big part in attracting talent and creating possibility for so many,” noted Esther Benjamin CEO of World Education Services. Benjamin proffered that her own migration journey shaped her commitment to “unlock opportunity, unlock possibility, and level the playing field”.

The experts suggested that as the US government’s immigration policies have shifted in accordance with presidential administrations, the nation may be losing ground to other countries that have consistently embraced welcoming policies toward immigrants.

“India also has a plan to attract a million international students”

“India is promoting branch campuses, private funding, tax benefits, and tech incentives. India also has a plan to attract a million international students. They’re poised in the next decade to be a significant source market,” said Benjamin.

Moderator Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, chancellor of University of Massachusetts Boston, broached the topic of language and identity and its relationship to the immigrant experience of many.

“Multilinguals have something very special in executive function, the jewel in the crown of higher cognitive skills. We need to offer all of the pathways to support literacy.”

Eddinger approached the language conversation from another standpoint – the language others use to discuss immigrants. She implored one must utilise assets-based language in immigration conversations.

“Immigrants don’t need to be rescued,” Eddinger continued. “We are not rescuing people. We are harnessing talent from other countries to enrich our own.”

Recommendations from the leaders included allowing in-state tuition for all visa types and offering more support for first generation students applying to HEIs. While acknowledging progress in the past few years, they concurred that the visa system still needed vast improvements and that a reduction in red tape would better facilitate the immigration process.

Finally, the group advocated for the creation of more opportunities for those who cannot financially access higher education and a reconsideration of post-grad work rights to encourage talent and to stay competitive with other top study destinations that offer clear paths to permanent residency.

Despite progress that has been made, barriers to naturalisation and inclusion remain. As such, part of the morning’s conversation centred around hinderances as well as recommendations for change.

“It’s important that we change the narrative of inclusion so we don’t forget each story and face behind the numbers.”

“It’s implied that there is a pathway to citizenship. But there isn’t really. In the last decade DACA recipients have been under threat,” advised Patricia Sobalvarro, executive director of Agencia ALPHA.

Harvard’s Mary Waters researches immigration and implored that higher education is far more important now than it was a century ago. “Many jobs did not require a HE degree. Now we have a real imperative for higher education for the knowledge economy. So, it’s now more important than ever that the community be inclusive.”

Eva Millona, chief officer of citizenship, partnership & engagement at the US Citizenship and Immigration Service agreed, adding, “It’s important that we change the narrative of inclusion so we don’t forget each story and face behind the numbers.” She further advocated for implementing policies that lead to better local models that become federal models.

Over lunch, leaders in higher education financing dialogued about the financial implications of higher education in the US. Lydiah Kemunto Bosire, founder & CEO of 8B Education Investments shared her journey from international student from Kenya to global entrepreneur.

She said initially faced numerous obstacles in her quest to help students fund their international experiences. “When you’re one of few people in the room with a specific experience you can either bicker about it and leave or stay and open doors.” Bosire said she chose the latter.

MPOWER Financing’s director of corporate strategy Sasha Ramani asserted, “Finances should not be a barrier to enrolment,” and offered some suggestions to address sub–Saharan Africa having the highest rate of visa denials.

“Finances should not be a barrier to enrolment”

He said the consulate in Lagos needs to be properly staffed and must make many more visa appointments available. He also called for a transparent set of visa acceptance criteria for all students.

“Let’s make the dream of a US education a reality before students decide to go elsewhere because they don’t think it is possible,” he added.

In closing, Feldblum asked participants to take the ideas from the session back to campus or the office. She recommended joining a community of practice around immigration and naturalization, and implored participants to advocate for pro-immigrant policies at the local and national levels.

“As we leave today, let’s not think about this as a one-off. Think about how we are sustaining the work & how to move it forward,” concluded Feldblum.

Post-event, Feldblum told The PIE News, “Stakeholders are ready not only to explore the important role that HEIs play as pathways to immigration and immigrant inclusion for our international, refugee, and Dreamer students, and community members, but also are ready to acknowledge that we need to be more intentional about embracing that role and work to reduce immigration barriers for these populations.”

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The German embassy in India has some 25,000 student visa applications for the next two semesters, the country’s ambassador to India has detailed.

Germany has seen its Indian student numbers “explode” over recent years, ambassador Philipp Ackerman said during a panel at the Acumen Global Gateway Summit on April 20.

“[Germany is] the new kid on the block because this number has exploded over the last couple of years and we have now 35,000 Indian students in Germany,” he said.

The 2023 Wissenschaft weltoffen, released in March, revealed that the European country was hosting a total of 33,753 Indian students, making up 9.7% of the 349,438 total international cohort in 2021/22.

China remains the top source country for international students, with some 40,055 students enrolling across Germany’s higher education ecosystem.

“What is more is that the German embassy has 25,000 new applications [from Indians] for the next two semesters on its table,” the ambassador continued.

“There is a huge interest in the Indian youth to come to Germany,” he said, noting that free education and English-medium programs – that offer both academic and practical options – add to the attraction.

“We don’t do recruitment. There is no publicity done by German institutions, mostly due to the fact that German universities are state run and owned. There is no business interests there.”

But, he explained, the embassy is overwhelmed with application numbers, and fraud is slowing down processing.

“We are overwhelmed by the number of applications. To process 25,000 applications in a year is tough for us. So we feel also a certain frustration that our proceedings – because we have to get to an academic assessment – and unfortunately, we have about 5 to 10% fraudulent applications and we have to get them out of the basket.

“It’s not much, but we have to do that and therefore the proceedings are taking some time.”

It’s not the first time visa applications have caused issues. In 2020, stakeholders warned that visa waiting times were “discouraging and demotivating” with students in India, Morocco and Cameroon waiting for up to one year for visas.

“German universities are super happy with Indian students”

It is not clear whether the large numbers of applications in India will be as problematic this year. Ambassador Ackerman also spoke of the “win-win situation” for Indian students and German society as a whole for hosting international students from India.

“German universities are super happy with Indian students. Their experience with Indian students is extremely positive. Therefore Indian applications are considered to be very valuable and accepted very easily… You have 12 months to look for a job [after graduation], and I will tell you that in six weeks every Indian student gets a job in Germany,” he said.

“What we want is Indian students coming to Germany and then also staying. We feel that when we offer to give them education, it plays out for us when they go into the workforce…

“Basically this is a win-win situation for both sides – for us and Indian students who stay on in Germany, working in Germany is a big relief in a context where we have a shortage of people.”

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The Home Office has refused to rule out the possibility that it will implement a policy to restrict the number of international students coming into the country.

During a recent session in parliament, John McNally, the SNP MP for the Falkirk Constituency asked education minister Robert Halfon whether he could confirm on the record that the government would not introduce an “illogical policy” designed to restrict foreign students.

“International students, as we know, inject billions into our economy, bring huge value to our campuses and enrich our wider society.

“Therefore, can the minister confirm on the record that the government will not introduce an illogical policy designed to restrict foreign students?” McNally asked during the session.

In his response, Halfon highlighted that the UK’s target is currently 600,000 international students per year – and that currently the country has around 680,000 students. He added that the target remains.

However, he noted that visa matters, such as those relating to any restrictions on international students, are for the Home Office to decide.

The PIE News asked the Home Office to confirm whether the government would introduce a policy to restrict the number of international students coming into the country.

“Our points-based system is designed to be flexible according to the UK’s needs – including attracting top class talent from across the world to contribute to the UK’s excellent academic reputation and to help keep our universities competitive on the world stage,” a spokesperson said.

“We keep all our immigration policies under constant review”

The government has been said to be considering limiting dependant visas as the number of students who brought family members to the country with them increased by almost 30% in 2022.

In February this year, The Times reported that the spouses and children of international students could be barred from the UK unless the students were studying “high-value” degrees.

These courses would have to be considered to be of a high value to the economy under the plans, such as STEM subjects like science, maths and engineering.

The UK continues to be a popular choice for international students. In 2022, the UK hit its 600,000 international student target 10 years early.

And earlier this year data showed that Chinese, Indian and Nigerian students drove the international student population of the UK in the 2021/22 academic year with numbers rising to almost 680,000 in that year.

The figures from HESA showed that Chinese students made the largest cohort of non-UK students, reaching a total of 151,690 in 2021/22.

The organisation also noted that the overall number of students from India stood at 126,535, a rise of 50% compared with the previous year when UK institutions hosted 84,555 students from the country.

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Thousands of foreign students from Africa, Middle East and Asia have been left stranded across Sudan, as factional fighting has begun in the country.

It is thought at least 5,000 of them are Nigerian.

The fighting, which began on 15 April, has left students from Egypt, Nigeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Chad, South Sudan and Somalia – among other countries – trapped in universities and cities like Khartoum.

Many have no basic provisions and are lacking means of communication.

With many of the students coming from low and middle income countries, few had been evacuated to safety by April 25, even as major world powers like the US, UK, Canada, Russia, Japan and the EU have begun airlifting citizens out of the war-torn country.

Authorities in Nigeria – the country with one of the highest number of students in Sudan – said they had made plans to evacuate an initial batch of 3,500 students stranded beginning April 25.

The country’s National Emergency Management Agency further disclosed that the group would be driven northwards to the Egyptian capital Cairo by bus, from where they will be flown home.

“In an attempt to evacuate, we should be mindful of the fact that we do not want to lose any life to it. But now that there’s a window, the government is exploring that window to get these people back to safety,” an official of the agency Onimode Bandele is quoted saying.

Earlier the government advised the students to disregard the National Association of Nigerian Students alleged plans to have the students escape the mayhem via Sudan’s southern neighbouring, Ethiopia.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Nigerian Embassy in Khartoum urged the students to remain calm and stay indoors, as preparations to move them out of Sudan were being finalised.

“We should be mindful of the fact that we do not want to lose any life”

“As the embassy had earlier informed students, you are requested to stay calm and remain indoors, while the mission is works on final approval to commence evacuation,” the statement said.

“It is still dangerous to embark on a journey toward the borders of Sudan without securing clearance and guarantee from Sudanese authorities.

“The embassy wishes to reassure the Nigerian students that their safety and wellbeing is of priority concern,” it added.

This decision was confirmed Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, who disclosed they had requested for a safe passage out of the country.

They affirmed to BBC Africa that evacuations would commence on Tuesday via Egypt.

On April 24, some 38 students – 19 from Kenya and 19 from Somalia – arrived in the Kenyan capital in a military aircraft. More airlifts were expected to get underway before the truce expired, according to Kenya’s Defence minister Aden Duale.

Some Middle Eastern countries were using Port Sudan on the Red Sea to rescue their nationals from the fighting.

A 72-hour truce declared is showing signs of holding despite incidents of sporadic gunfire. Different countries were expected to step up evacuation efforts by end of the ceasefire period by April 28.

According to London-based Arabic world education publication Al-Fanar, there were more than 15,000 international students from Arab countries alone enrolled in Sudanese universities in 2019.

“You are requested to stay calm and remain indoors”

Quoting the Non-Sudanese Student Welfare Organization, it said that the students were spread across 38 public universities and in over 100 private institutions in the country.

The largest number of foreign students from Arab countries – 7,000 – came from Somalia, which has experienced its own turmoil in recent years. Another 2,000 were from Yemen and another 1,200 students were from Egypt.

Power struggles and political turmoil that have plagued Sudan since 2019 has, at various points, led to some universities shutting down. This, coupled with poor economic conditions and escalating living costs, has seen a significant drop in the number of foreign students.

The fighting pits Sudan Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces, and has left over 400 people dead.

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Hot on the heels of its European expansion through the acquisition of studddy, Keystone Education Group has widened its reach in the student-athlete placement sector.

The international education organisation has acquired two European-based companies that will add to its sports division that connects international student-athletes with US colleges.

Barcelona-based I-Con Sports has, since its establishment in 2004, secured over US$60 million in funding for some 1,200 student-athletes from 50 countries, while Future Elite Sports in the UK has helped to obtain athletic & academic scholarships for 1500+ students across the UK since 2013.

Keystone Sports also acquired German student-athlete placement agency uniexperts in 2022.

“Through Keystone Sports, we have helped over 10,000 students in Europe pursue their academic and athletic dreams in North America,” CEO of Keystone Education Group, Fredrik Högemark, said.

“With I-Con Sports and Future Elite Sports, we will help a wider network of students in Spain and the UK accomplish their higher education and competitive sporting goals,” he added, pointing to “the amazing sports culture, facilities, and funding available alongside excellent higher education” available in the US and Canada.

“By joining Keystone, I-Con Sports is taking one step further in strengthening its ties with college sports in the US and enhancing its services towards student-athletes,” I-Con Sports CEO and founder, Marc Becker said.

“Our student athletes will have direct access to coaches from every college in America”

“With Keystone, we will be able to offer a complete service covering all needs for a student-athlete aiming to play and study in the US, from high school to a graduate degree.”

In addition to its US placement services, Future Elite Sports offers students the ability to seek higher education while playing football and rugby in the UK.

“We will also be able to expand our placement offerings in the UK, creating opportunities to play sports while pursuing higher education at the same time,” Högemark noted.

“With many of the best student-athlete agencies from across the globe now joining forces as part of Keystone, our student athletes will have direct access to coaches from every college in America, to showcase events across Europe, and to collaborative college tours and experiences,” Future Elite Sports founder, Greg Josling said.

“Working closer with Keystone will also open the door for European students to study and compete in the UK as an alternative option and we are looking forward to enhancing this offering with the help of Keystone.”

Keystone Sports also previously acquired European student-placement agencies including CSUSA, Sport-Scholarships and AGM Sports.

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The Association of Commonwealth Universities has announced the launch of its Equitable Research Partnerships Toolkit.

The toolkit is designed “to support the creation and advancement of fairer north-south and south-south research relationships in the higher education research landscape”, ACU said in a statement.

According to ACU, the unique needs and challenges of higher education were at the forefront of the creation, resulting in a “carefully curated” selection of practical resources for universities to utilise and enhance equity in their research relationships.

“We look forward to sharing our toolkit with universities, helping to foster more equitable partnerships across the Commonwealth and build a more equal society for all,” said Beate Knight, head of programmes at ACU.

“Supporting equitable partnerships between our 500+ strong global network of members is at the heart of our mission and fundamental to the ACU’s strategy. We believe that it is essential for universities to be at the forefront of action and research combating entrenched inequalities.

“International research partnerships have become a growing reality and necessity in higher education, with increased collaboration between universities from the global north and south, and between those from high-income and low-and middle-income countries,” added Knight.

The toolkit focuses on stimulating private critical thinking and dialogue on the meaning of equity in a research alliance.

The resources aim to aid research professionals to plan, implement, disseminate and sustain equitable research partnerships through the content.

The content is divided into five sections; building understanding and awareness, stakeholder identification and analysis, envisioning achieving and assessing desired partnership impact, research study – design and implementation and checklists.

“The global conversation on inequity and unfairness in research partnerships has gained significant traction in recent years, with increasing calls to action to implement changes in practice,” said Therina Theron, senior director, research and innovation at Stellenbosch University and co-chair of the ACU Supporting Research Community Steering Committee.

“Equitable partnerships are an indispensable component of fair and just scientific research”

Theron, speaking at a webinar to launch the toolkit, added that the practical tool will allow researchers and stakeholders to go from “talking the talk” to “walking the walk” when it comes to collaborations that promote equality and fairness.

“Equitable partnerships are an indispensable component of fair and just scientific research that benefits populations globally,” said Theron.

She added that the toolkit will “raise awareness around the damage done to scientific integrity through inequitable research partnerships, allow for reflection, and offer practical interventions to help ensure equity”.

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In an effort to streamline New Zealand’s system for assessing foreign credentials, the country’s qualification authority has partnered with World Education Services. 

The agreement, which was signed in late March, will see WES implement a qualification verification service, helping migrants with credentials from overseas transition to New Zealand’s system. 

“WES has been verifying academic credentials for decades, and we’ll leverage this experience to the benefit of New Zealand and our newest residents,” NZQA chief executive Grant Klinkum said. 

WES, which runs as a non-profit helping shape policy and design programs as well as evaluating qualifications, will work with New Zealand’s government on the project as part of a “broader push to strengthen the nation’s economy”. 

The project comes under the name WES Global Record Verification Report, and will “ensure a more efficient process… for those wanting to make New Zealand home”. 

The Report, according to WES, has been specifically designed to “expedite services” for migrants who would qualify for a resident visa under the “skilled migrant” category.

“WES is honoured to partner with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority by offering a WES Global Records Verification Report that will enable migrants to more rapidly join the country’s workforce,” said Esther Benjamin, chief executive officer and executive director of WES. 

“[It] will enable migrants to more rapidly join the country’s workforce”

The new effort by New Zealand’s qualification authority to ease the process for incoming migrants, including international students, comes after it was revealed that the country may be on target to match its 2019 total of $3.7bn injected into the economy from the sector. 

“[Our] experience has taught us how vital verification is for people seeking to contribute their skills to new countries and communities. It has also taught us that migrant talent is critical to supporting economic growth,” Benjamin continued.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority was notably one of the first bodies to formally recognise micro-credentials in 2019.

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Expect disruption and new modes of innovative education but now is the time for international education providers to go to India, was the clear message at the Acumen Global Gateway conference in Delhi.

With some 750,000 Indian students travelling to study abroad in 2022 – up from 441,000 in 2021 – the current situation is, however, “unsustainable”, Sandeep Chakravorty, ministry of external affairs, joint secretary, told delegates.

“The current model of international education for India needs to change… The one-way traffic needs to change,” he said. “Billions of dollars are being pumped out of the country.”

In another provocative speech, Sanjeev Sanyal, from the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, who works closely with prime minister Modi, questioned the role of “old-style, legacy” universities.

“We need to educate and skill fast as we can, we can’t wait for a decade to build brick-and-mortar universities like we have in the past,” he said, in an apparent step away from the National Education Policy from 2020 – which opened opportunities for international universities to build campuses in the country.

“We already have too many university campuses on the planet,” he continued.

India has the opportunity “leapfrog” from its overwhelmed higher education system to one that centres around digital, he suggested.

Not all delegates agreed with the statements – Erik Lithander from University of Auckland noted that Indian students leaving the country to study abroad to learn the skills and gain knowledge which will benefit India is something to be “celebrated” – but there was consensus that in the NEP 2020, the government has initiated a “world of opportunity”.

“India is showing [the rest of us] how to hurry up”

Largely, speakers acknowledged that the demographics in India – new statistics have indicated the 1.46bn people in the country makes it the world’s largest country, with it accounting for 25% of the world’s population under 25 – make it an exciting education location.

Sanyal noted, however, that the next 30 years is the “sweet spot”, with predictions forecasting Nigeria will replace India as the most populous sometime in the 2050s.

Pankaj Mittal, secretary general at the Association of Indian Universities, said that there is impetus within the wide-ranging NEP for internationalisation of the Indian higher education system, including for both private and public universities.

The policy, as previously noted, offers up opportunities for branch campuses, dual and joint diplomas and degrees, credit transfer and more, speakers said.

Mutual recognition of qualification agreements with countries like the UK and Australia, as well as AIU’s MoUs with organisations such as UUK, Universities Australia, in Mexico and its portal designed to help institutions find partners in India, will support the internationalisation agenda.

“Slowly, we are making it easier,” Mittal said.

The “next frontier” for international partnerships is in research, Amrita Sadarangani, head of College of Science & Engineering Partnerships at University of Edinburgh in India, stated.

“What India offers as solutions is very compelling for universities,” she told delegates, a comment that Lee Wildman from Queen Mary University of London, confirmed. “That is how we see it as well,” he said during a panel.

“India’s ascent to becoming a research and education superpower comes at the exact time we need it most,” Lithander from Auckland added. “India is showing [the rest of us] how to hurry up.”

“The current model of international education for India needs to change”

An international system in India will also help the country in its aim to attract international students.

In the last several years, the number of international students in India has been hovering around 48,000-50,000 students, Shashank Shah, senior specialist – Higher Education, NITI Aayog, highlighted.

“We have just increased it by about 10,000 in the last 10 years,” he continued, with Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and US accounting for the top sending countries in 2022.

“If we are to attract the best international students into India, we’ll have to have pedagogical methods and curricula that are of international standards and relevance,” Shah explained, adding that exposure for faculty and administration bodies to international delivery is vital.

GIFT city, where Deakin and Wollongong are set to open campuses focusing on financial education catering to locally situated companies, was given later as an example of a “South Asian hub”, by executive director development, international at Financial Services Centre IFSCA GIFT City, Dipesh Shah.

“There is no lack of international students and scholars looking outside of India for opportunities for research, post docs or studies, but to create that infrastructure here and make India that attractive place, there is a lot of work that does need to be done,” Adam Grotsky of US-IEF concluded.

“There is some great work being done at some institutions, largely private and some elite public institutions, but that is only an area. A lot of US institutions come in and express an interest in sending their students to India for short-term study abroad programs. As of right now, the pickings are a little bit slim.

“We hope that through the NEP more and more opportunities across diverse regions outside the major metros become available for international students,” Grotsky said.

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Charles Sturt University has announced it recently signed agreements with five higher education institutions in India in a bid to further enhance its global reputation.

The memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with five Indian counterparts cover a wide range of topics, including joint degrees, student-exchange programs and research collaboration.

The partnerships will also look at professional development and exchange opportunities for academic staff.

The universities and institutions for signing an agreement with the Australian college are the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, based in Noida and New Delhi;  Nitte University and Yenepoya University, based in Mangalore; the Saintgits Group of Institutions, based in Kottayam; and Sandip University in Nashik.

Professor Renée Leon, vice-chancellor at the Australian institution, commended the partnerships as “pillars of the strategy” aimed at increasing the college’s global standing, diversifying its international student cohorts and delivering a top-class international student experience.

“Charles Sturt University is committed to growing international student numbers at our regional campuses [in New South Wales] and providing more opportunities for our Australian students to study overseas.

“These partnerships will achieve those objectives while also broadening collaboration networks for our researchers and creating opportunities for our academic staff to develop their careers and connections.” Leon noted.

“These partnerships will broaden collaboration networks for our researchers”

Mike Ferguson, Charles Sturt’s pro vice-chancellor for international affairs, visited India in March as a member of the official delegation accompanying Australian Education Minister Jason Clare.

Clare initialed an agreement for the mutual recognition of qualifications between the two countries, thus allowing Australian HEIs to gain a stronger foothold in the Indian subcontinent.

Jenny Kent, associate professor and acting deputy dean in the Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural sciences, and Trent Pohlmann, Charles Sturt’s head of international partnership development, were the other CSU members of the Australian delegation.

“While Charles Sturt has had long-standing relationships in Indian and it is one of our key recruitment markets, several recent announcements by both the Australian and Indian governments have intensified the opportunities available.” said Ferguson.

“Charles Sturt University looks forward to taking our new partnerships to the next stage and delivering some meaningful, mutually beneficial outcomes for our students, staff and communities.” he concluded.

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