•  Renowned educationists, leaders from institutions, academics, and researchers from around the world participated in the discussions.

• “Public universities under ‘Institution of Excellence’ to get 1,000 crores funding in next 5 years”: Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman – All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

The Education Worldwide India Leaders Conclave & International Students Fair 2018 in New Delhi concluded with the core focus on ‘Study in India’. The conclave was a robust platform for all important stakeholders in the education industry to debate on the major current trends in the education sector – Globalisation of education and innovation in education both from the point of view of technology and infrastructure. The conclave also shed light on the importance and difference between Universities/institutions ranking & ratings in the education system. In the side-lines of conclave, an international education student fair was also organised that witnessed participation of more than 900 students across the country. The event was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman – All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recently at Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi. The conclave was exclusively supported by Federation of Leaders in Academics, Research and Education (FLARE) & Indian Education Network (IEN).

Opening Ceremony – L to R: Devendra K Jain – Anil Saharabudhe – Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra – P Palanivel

The All India Survey on Higher Education 2016-17 says that while about 5 lakh students travel abroad to pursue higher education, there are just 47,575 students of foreign nationalities studying in Indian universities. Aiming to increase the inflow of foreign students to Indian universities, the union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar, on Friday, announced April 18 as the launch date of the Study in India programme. Government of India’s new mission for Study in India programme is to bring 10 lakh foreign students into the country.

Chief Guest Felicitation – L to R: Devendra K Jain – Anil Saharabudhe – Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra – P Palanivel

Speaking about the importance of Internationalisation of education at the conclave Honourable Chief Guest Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman – All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) said, “India is far better than countries that are non english speaking when it comes to education. The country of our size where we have about 800+ Universities, 40,000+ Colleges and 10,000+ Technical Institution, I think we have a huge potential to attract students from all over the globe. This isn’t the case long ago, when universities like Nalanda attracted students from all over the world. The missing factor today is better quality education. As far as the cost of education is concerned, it is less as compared to most of the countries. And if quality of education is improved I am sure we can attract lakhs of students within sometime. There is already a project by govt. of India MHRD to attract student from abroad. One of the program launched year and a half ago is named GIAN-Global Initiative of academic networks under which foreign faculty from any university can be invited to an Indian institution for a week or two. The expenditure will be taken care by the HRD Ministry. About thousand faculties from different part of the world have been visiting different institutions in India. In these one or two weeks of crash courses these faculties learned about our education system and found it very valuable for the global education.”

Mr. Sahasrabudhe further spoke about the declaration of ‘institution of excellence’ in the world-class university scheme by the Union government, “10 institutes will be selected in the government sector and 10 in private sector, there are about more than 100 applicants. In couple of months 10 Public universities & self-financed private universities will be declared as institution of excellence. Although there is no funding for private universities but at least the tag will help them in granting themselves as ‘institution of excellence’ to attract students from abroad. On the other hand, 10 Public universities will also get INR 1,000 crores funding in next 5 years to increase and improve facilities in their institutions that will also attract foreign faculty. The nation is moving towards facilitating the institutions/universities who are performing well.”

The first session ‘Internationalisation of Indian Education to attract International Students’ was moderated by Prof. B.S. Satyanarayana – Vice Chancellor, BML Munjal University (BMU). Joining him as penalists were Mr. Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra – Chancellor, Shobhit University, Dr. Vijay Khare – Director International, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Dr. Palak Sheth – Director Planning & Development, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU). The discussion at the session revolved around getting international faculty from all over the globe as it will give international weightage and help to attract students. The topic highlighted that Government colleges & universities still have some restriction to hire foreign faculties but other self-financed private universities should use this method to attract students from abroad.

Ratings, Rankings and Accreditations of Higher Education Institutions in India session was moderated by Mr. Santosh Karnanada – Head Client Relations, QS IGAUGE with panellists Mr. Manish Kumar Jindal – CEO, National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET), Dr. Pankaj Gupta – Executive Director, O P Jindal Global University, Dr. Sanjay Sirivastava – Managing Director, Manav Racha Group of Institutions & Vice Chancellor, Manav Rachna University. Key takeaway from the session was with the country of this size mapping all the universities is not feasible by one agency. Hence ranking & ratings of Indian institutes should be done by accredited 4-5 bodies. It will be important to ensure that the basic parameters and the evalution criteria for the rating agencies should be same so that the institution that are participating in different agencies gets the score under same parameters. It will help the students with better and transparent information while choosing the right university / institution.

Last session of the conclave ‘Innovation in School Education leading to overall transformation of students’ was Moderated by Mr. Ashish Khare – Sr. Mathematician with panellists Ms. Shipra Singh – Vice President, Apar Technologies, Ms. Manju Gupta – Principal, Kothari International School and Mr. Anupam Kaushik – Founder, EdMonks.

The session concluded with two key takeaways:

• We need to look at the larger perspective in the long run where students are allowed to choose subjects of their choice

• By the time that happens there has to be changes in Course, curriculum, use of technology to empower teachers, education with practical examples & should inculcate activity-based education

About Education Worldwide India Fairs (EWWI)

Education Worldwide India Fairs (EWWI) was introduced by GEEPL in 2004, since then this event has grown to become one of the largest and most prestigious events in the ecosystem of education and learning. EWWI is one of the recognised platforms for students to interact with the leading universities from all over the world. EWWI functions in an interesting model: in the world of digital learning and information technology, details pertaining to selection of the right university is made easy by giving first-hand experience of these global institutes in these fair.

Considering the importance of right guidance for career and education in India, GEEPL organised the first ever education fair in 2004. GEEPL has in the last 15 years organized 236 successful Education Worldwide India Fairs and has maintained its leading positioning in the Education Fair industry. Education Worldwide India Fairs have witnessed participation of Universities / Institutions from more than 67 countries and hosted country pavilions from about 18 countries across the globe. The upcoming edition of the show, Education Worldwide India – Spring Series 2018 will be held from 6 April to 6 May 2018 which would cover 10 cities of India & Nepal. EWWI provides the industry a worldview on study in abroad, curriculum, new systems and forecasting the trends in the future of education, both from national and international point of view.

About Global Events & Expositions Private Limited (GEEPL)

Founded in 2003, Global Events & Expositions Private Limited (GEEPL) registered under Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India is a young, dynamic and leading Education Fair organizing company. GEEPL plays a crucial advocacy role in the education system in India.

Committed towards serving the student community of India for past 15 years, GEEPL has always showcased new and unique avenues to spread information about education opportunities around the world. GEEPL has introduced various products that have now become education industry concepts in the last few years. Focused on student empowerment, GEEPL has been highly successful in achieving a huge target gain through providing the right information to the Indian Students at their doorsteps.

GEEPL has been successfully connecting the right universities with students and visa-versa using various offline and online models. One of the major products of GEEPL that has gained recognition and credibility over a decade is Education Worldwide India Fairs. Education Worldwide India Fairs is the maiden product of GEEPL.