While the University of Pune currently has 3,882 international students, the cumulative number of foreign students in all the remaining 18 universities is a meager 151. Now, with universities realising the potential of collaborating with international institutes and attracting foreign students here, a conscious effort will now be made in that direction.

“I believe that our universities can not only retain their our own students but also attract foreign students by creating infrastructure, facilities and providing professional services,” said Governor S M Krishna at a meeting of the joint board on Friday held at the Raj Bhavan.

“The proposal was mooted by Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Medical Education and Energy Dilip Walse Patil and was supported by all the vice-chancellors,” said Dr Rajan Welukar, vice-chancellor of Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who also attended the meeting, is said to have welcomed the suggestion of creating a consortium of all the state’s universities. The governor has also appealed to the vice-chancellors to take concrete steps that would enhance the enrollment of international students.

Mumbai University has only 90 international students, the number varying from zero to 15 in the others. “The only exception is University of Pune. So the governor wants the others to catch up,” said a university official.

Explaining the need to attract foreign students, Welukar said: “Just as our students studying abroad become ambassadors of the US, similarly foreign students will become our ambassadors. This is a huge achievement in an era of globalisation,” he said. Needless to add, quality of education in the state universities as well as amenities like hostels would also have to be upgraded to match global standards. An increase in the number of foreign students would also imply more revenue for the state and the universities.

Meanwhile, the Governor has also directed his office to plan interactive sessions with various stakeholders on the “internationalization” of higher education in the state. “Plans are on to conduct such sessions three months later which will deliberate on issues, for instance how to market Indian universities abroad and starting of sub-centers abroad, among others,” said a source.

Upgrading Higher Education

* A committee is to be formed under the minister for Higher and Technical Education to decide on issues like quality upgradation programmes, introduction of semester system for graduates and post-graduates, introduction of credit system, granting of permanent affiliation to all colleges and bringing uniformity in fees.

* Agricultural universities have been asked to focus more on developing crop varieties suitable for resource-poor farmers as they constitute the bulk of the farming community in Maharashtra.

* Governor has said that he would like institutions with potential for excellence identified by the University Grants Commission to come forward for autonomy.