Sending Students Abroad Is Not Internationalisation Of Education: Dinesh Patnaik

Internationalisation of education does not only mean sending Indian students abroad but also welcoming foreign students in the country, Dinesh Patnaik, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

Patnaik made the comments at the two-day Education Summit, which is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). "We need to look at internationalisation of education holistically. It does not only mean sending Indian students abroad but also welcoming foreign students in India," he said.

"The government is working on a global students' platform which gives all information regarding all educational institutions of the world at one place for ease of students," Patnaik added. The summit is being attended by academicians, government representatives as well as stakeholders of education sector.

"The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been working on internationalisation of higher education before this word became fashionable," Akhilesh Mishra, Director General, Indian Council for Culture Relations (ICCR) said at the event. Indian Institutes of Technology Madras' Dean of International Relations, Mahesh Panchagnula, pitched for dual degree programmes for foreign students.

"We need to bridge measures and dual degree programmes for foreign students so that they can start looking at India as a positive education option," he said at the conclave.