Canadian universities to enter India following clearance of bill by Indian Parliament

Canada, 19th March: The green signal by the Indian parliament for permitting international educational institutions to establish campuses in the nation will see several Canadian colleges and universities coming up in India.

The bill has been aptly titled –‘the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations, Maintenance of Quality and Prevention of Commercialization) Bill is likely to open a new horizon for foreign education providers by enabling them open up independent campuses in the country.

At present, several hundred educational collaborations exist between foreign and Indian institutes, mainly from the US and Canada, especially in areas including technical education and business.

The proposed bill is a welcome step indeed, stated Husain Neemuchwala, Canada-India Business Council education committee. He added that the Canada-India Business council and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce have been keenly asking Canadian universities for opening up of educational campuses in India.

The approval of the bill is a milestone in itself because it will unfold new choices, increase competition as well as standards of quality in international education, stated Kapil Sibal, the Indian Human Resource Development Minister.

Every year, an increasing number of Indian students seek student visa for different countries to pursue their dreams of getting higher education in different countries the world over. Hence, the Indians apply for students visa for UK, US, Australia and Canada.

Nearly 4,000 Indians go to Canada colleges and universities on Canada student visa while the number of Indians getting Australia student visas is 40,000, US student visa is 80,000 and UK student visa is 50,000. Among several reasons behind less Indians receiving Canada student visa is due to tougher visa norms by Canadian immigration for students.

This will be big relief for those who want to go to Canada for studying in various colleges in Canada because now, the Canadian universities and colleges are coming into India to offer world-class education without any visa hassles, said Neemuchwala.

Some of the famous Canadian colleges in line to establish campuses in India include Quest, Sheridan and Pickering. 
Vice-chancellor and president of Carleton University, Canada, Roseann O’Reilly Runte, has sought support and collaboration for its Center of Excellence for Indo-Canadian Relations. She is on trip to India these days.