Education Sector Profile

The Government of Canada has prepared this updated report based on primary & secondary sources of information. Readers should take note that the Government of Canada does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information contained in this report, nor does it necessarily endorse the organizations listed herein. Readers should independently verify the accuracy and reliability of the information.

1. Sector Overview

With a population of approximately 1.3 billion, a growing middle class estimated at 250-300 million, and an economy annually growing in excess of 9 percent up to 2007, India has emerged as one of the top growth stories in the world. As an emerging economy with liberal economic policies, the demand for qualified and skilled workers has been rising rapidly. Close to 100,000 Indians go overseas annually for post-secondary education with Canada attracting only 2,505 of these students in 2007. India is Canada's sixth source country for incoming international students and is thus positioned as an important region for future collaboration and strategic development.

With a large network of colleges (18,064) and universities (379), India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world as of 2007. According to the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), there has been an impressive growth in the area of higher education with the student enrolment estimated at 10 million. In the 2005-06 academic year, 8.8 million Indian students enrolled in three-year undergraduate programs, while some 864,862 students were enrolled in two-year postgraduate programs (excluding doctoral studies). The top five programs attracting higher education admissions include arts (45.12%), science (20.44%), commerce and management (18%), engineering/technology (7.2%), and medicine (3.15%). Technical education has been one of the fastest growing areas and interest is growing in hospitality management and communications, design or media-related programs. Education expenditure forms nearly 4% of GDP. Projected growth of students in the 18-24 demographic is 138 million and the expected 25% increase in enrolment rate would require an increased capacity to accommodate some 34 million students by 2019. Affirmative action reforms to education in India will also require that a percentage of enrolment spaces be allocated for students of underprivileged groups. Education– as per the Indian constitution– is a joint area of jurisdiction that grants rights and responsibilities for the sector's development and regulation to both the Centre and the States. Central government is responsible for policy formulation relating to higher education in the country. It also provides funding grants for higher education, and establishes central universities in the country. State governments on the other hand, are responsible for establishing state universities and colleges, and provide financial assistance for development and maintenance. University Grants Commission (UGC) is responsible for coordination, determination and maintenance of standards, release of grants, etc. There are 21 central universities, 219 state universities, 110 deemed-universities and 13 private universities. Overall, the university system has diversified into a number of disciplines with deemed-universities showing the greatest degree of diversification.

The quality of education in India varies with each institution. Despite a rich tradition of higher education and research in India, only 1 university (JNU-183rd ) and two groups of institutions (IITs-57th and IIMs-68th ) are listed as among the "Top 200 World Universities Rankings" by the Times Higher Education Supplement . Shortage of quality education providers is one of the driving factors for an increasing number of Indian students to go overseas for higher education. Canadian universities seeking to attract the most talented graduate students for recruitment and collaborative programs should focus their marketing efforts on National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)-accredited “A" universities and colleges in India.

By 2004-05, public spending per student at the tertiary level in India declined to $204. Now, with growing realization of the importance of higher education, $19 billion has been allocated for education under the 11th five year plan (2007-12), up from $2.1 billion allocated in the previous five year plan (2002-07). The increased education budget is aimed at expanding education infrastructure to accommodate the projected increase in student enrolment to seven million students. The special plan for higher education will include 373 colleges, 30 federal universities inclusive of 14 'World Class', 8 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), 7 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), 20 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), and 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) . There is enormous scope for Canada's premier universities to assist the Government of India in its expansion plans, which will likely include international participants. To this end, universities in the UK have already offered to assist in the development of some of India's 14 'World Class' Federal universities.

Quality institutions offering post-secondary education are insufficient to meet the increasing demand for education in India. According to one estimate, only 60% of secondary school graduates qualify for admission into higher education institutions. According to McKinsey (2005), only 25% of India's engineering graduates, 15% of its finance and accounting graduates and 10% of its general graduates, are suitable to work for multinational companies. Thus, with India's diverse and growing economy, demand for quality education is on the rise. In response to an upswing in the country's economy, the demand in India for graduates in engineering, medicine and education has soared 32%, 16% and 10% per year, respectively between 2000 and 2006. In the 2005-06 academic year, estimated enrolment in degree programs were: engineering and technology (430,000), pharmacy (24,672), and architecture (4,491) students.

Evalueserve (2005) estimates that although the Indian off-shore industry will require 160,000 foreign-language professionals by 2010, a mere 40,000 Indians fluent in foreign languages will be qualified to meet this requirement. Indeed, demand is high in India for French- and German-speaking professionals. Opportunities for speakers of Russian, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Italian, Korean and Indonesian are growing as well. More public and private language institutions have entered the Indian market in recent years. Given this shortage of language professionals, student recruitment and collaborative opportunities in language training is expected to increase.

Conservative estimates suggest that about 5.5 million students graduate high school each year. Approximately 3.3 million students enroll at the senior secondary level which leaves about 2.2 million out of the education stream. Nearly 19 million school students drop out of middle school (VIII), which, together with the high school drop outs, create a sizeable supply of students (over 21 million students) looking for local and international vocational education and training opportunities. The emerging Indian economy is the main driver for the rising demand for vocational education in India.

The US, the UK and Australia receive about 60% of India's international students. Canada ranks fifth as a destination country for education. New international education hubs such as Singapore, China, and New Zealand are also adding to the competition. Australia has put tremendous effort and resources into attracting Indian students and may displace the UK as the 2nd favorite student destination after the US. Emerging markets such as Singapore and Malaysia will compete on price and proximity.

2. Market and Sector Challenges

India has a number of excellent institutions of higher education but lacks sufficient capacity to meet increasing demand for quality education. Hence over 100,000 students choose foreign destinations for higher education every year (as of 2007) spending an estimated US$4 billion toward tuition and living expenses. Canada's share in these numbers is surprisingly low given its reputation for education excellence and cost competitiveness.

Key strengths:

India is an important market for international education. It has the advantage of numbers, a well-established system of quality private education at all-India level, producing quality students with financial ability to afford foreign education. Easy availability of education loans coupled with a liberal foreign exchange management regime is making foreign education more affordable. The number of Indian students choosing to study abroad is growing by 10 to15% annually. The booming economy, especially services sector (e.g. health, aviation, telecom) is creating scope for offering training programs in India. The presence of the Canadian Education Centre (CEC) offices in India is an advantage which Canadian institutions can use for promoting programs, facilitating student recruitment as well as partnerships. Canada's internationally recognized education, available at a relatively cheaper cost in multicultural, safer cities of Canada is an advantage which can attract Indian students to Canada.

Canada-India education linkages are historical, and with the signing of the Canada-India Bilateral S&T Agreement, the scope for cooperation in the education arena has significantly enlarged. This presents Canadian institutions, particularly universities, with an opportunity to emerge as a destination of choice for graduate and higher-level studies.

Challenges:

There is a general lack of awareness in India about Canada's education excellence and competitive cost of both living and tuition in Canada. Lack of awareness about Canada is particularly acute in second tier cities where demand for quality international education is growing. There is limited Canadian presence on the ground for guiding/counseling prospective students whereas competitor countries have more resources deployed on the ground. Lack of graduate scholarships for Canadian campuses inhibits the emergence of Canada's popularity as a destination of choice for undergraduate studies although the Vanier Scholarship program will support interest in graduate level study.

Education institutions are showing increasing interest in establishing off-shore branch programs and campuses. Opening up branch campuses involves significant investment, and the lack of regulation confers a certain amount of risk which could explain why there are so few in India. Until the draft legislation (“The Foreign Educational Institutions Regulation of Entry and Operation, maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialization -Bill, 2007"), which would facilitate the setting up of branch campuses by foreign education providers, is passed by the Indian Parliament, Canadians are advised to seek alternative ways to enter India's education market. At present, an alternative option is to establish a study centre within a private Indian institution or through an articulation | twinning agreement. It is important to note that of the four main collaborative education models in India, twinning accounts for 54% and joint provision leading to joint or dual degrees for 23%, while franchise and study centers account for 17% and 6% respectively.

As per the Draft Bill currently circulating, all foreign universities upon opening a branch campus will get a status of Deemed Universities thereby conferring authority to grant degrees. There is a clause in the bill that provides exemption to the foreign institutes from regulations like reservations, fee structure and salaries.

3. Sub-Sector Identification

Training is an emerging area of potential interest for Canada's business schools, vocational and community colleges. These areas include: skill-based vocational training in civil aviation, construction, nursing and so on as well as sector-focused management education like construction and aviation management, retail, finance and so on. A challenge in recruitment for these programs is that students are generally from a lower income bracket and thus partnerships with industry may be a niche entry to develop a profile and collaborative opportunity.

In Summary

Canada-India academic relations have been flourishing in recent years – by building on the long-standing relationships at the institutional and government levels. The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute - which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year – has been an important partner in further developing these relationships. For example, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) Canadian Studies program, in close collaboration with Shastri, has led to a network of more than 20 Canadian studies centers and programs throughout India that work to support teaching and research related to the bilateral agenda.

The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan has also played a significant role in strengthening Canada-India relations by fostering inter-institutional partnerships. Throughout the last two years alone, DFAIT has offered over 50 scholarships to Indian students to study or research at universities across Canada in areas including computer science, biotechnology and electrical engineering. Through the recent announcement of the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, even more opportunities will now be available for the best and brightest international students to study in Canada at the PhD level.

Canada is therefore well positioned to move forward with a collaborative and strategic approach to education in India given existing synergies at the levels of institutions, associations, Provinces and also at the Federal level.