The purpose of education is deep social impact. This is the essence of good governance. The promise of education is to transform lives for the better, to lift the marginalized and the left-out, and to create a level playing field. Seen along these lines, the purpose of international education ought to be the fostering of collaboration to address the developmental challenges that confront the global community, such as, in the health sector or rapid response to natural disasters or climate change, to name a few.

Yet, this certainly does not appear to be the overriding rationale behind the strong outreach by western universities to tap into the international student market. According to current data, the overseas student market is projected to grow to US$ 433 bn by 2030. The student outflow for overseas study has started to bounce back post-pandemic and tipped to overtake pre-pandemic levels. Caps on student inflow, curbs on visas and work rights in certain existing markets, and growing resentment against cultural diversity, have only had the effect of opening up new markets because of the huge and sustainable revenue projections.

The concerted campaign by international education providers to boost overseas student intake is, therefore, understandable. Indeed, the dependence on the revenue from overseas students to fund domestic students, and subsidize research, infrastructure spending, and provide employment is a compelling argument. Any curbs or caps on foreign student inflow is vehemently opposed by such institutions. For smaller institutions, such as those that provide vocational education and training, for instance, such curbs can threaten their very survival. For the larger and more established institutions, such curbs can even affect global rankings.

India, with its growing economic prosperity, home to one-fifty of the world population and adding around 12 million annually to the work force, in addition to a rapidly growing, largely English-speaking, middle class with the ability to afford high tuition fees and living expenses for their children, became a natural source for overseas students. It also allowed for diversifying the student pool, which was overwhelmingly Chinese. Not that it really matters but an additional argument that is usually cited about India is that it is a natural partner being a like-minded nation with shared values on democracy and the rule of law, with whom several western countries enjoyed a strategic partnership.

Education crisis

There is, however, another and more unfortunate reason as to why Indian students are targeted by international education providers. A huge demand-supply mismatch coupled with a paucity of quality education defines the education landscape. The first steps towards revamping an aging and obsolete system have been taken through India's New Education Policy, which is, unfortunately, hampered by slow implementation and a resistance to transformative change by vested interests. This has triggered a push-pull factor: students, with the capacity to pay for studying abroad, have been ‘pulled in’ by overseas education providers, since they were ‘pushed out’ by lack of education opportunities in India. Those unable to pay for overseas education are left at the mercy of dodgy and fly-by-night operators with fancy infrastructure and poor educators. The situation is not expected to dramatically improve in the immediate future. Indeed, according to government of India estimates, 1.33 million Indian students are currently studying abroad, making it the single largest number by nationality of overseas students. This outflow will only increase.

India faces a critical education crisis. Without a strong quality education canvas, the developmental challenges will simply multiply. One in every five persons under the age of 25 is Indian, making India the largest pool of youngsters. According to several economic forecasts, it is on track to become the third largest economy in the world, overtaking Japan and Germany. According to social science data, uneducated and unemployed youngsters are a source of criminal activity. India’s demographic dividend may well become a demographic disaster. Governance is not about providing freebies but quality education and quality employment. 

This would necessarily mean that India’s young working population would need to be equipped with the skills that a future-looking India would need, especially in a technologically driven world. Not easy and requires sustained and war-footing investment in education, coupled with policy shifts to cater to evolving demands. Indeed, India’s success would spur global growth and wellbeing.  

It is in this context that the approach towards international education needs to be fundamentally revisualized. As an example, given the rapid and dramatic growth in India-Australia relations over the past decade, it begs the question as to whether collaboration in the education sector could emerge as a one of the truly defining pillars in the bilateral architecture.

Outreach diplomacy

Canberra, in its recently released roadmap, which identified key sectors in its economic engagement with India, saw education and skilling as featuring prominently. The focus of the roadmap continues to be economic driven and thus, part of a business strategy towards India. While focusing on student intake is legitimate and understandable as a revenue generating sector, the sole focus of Australia’s international education strategy vis-à-vis India cannot and should not be transactional but rather relationship building. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership requires that the two governments align interventions to address strategic challenges. They do not monetize collaboration at the hour of need. A joint shoulders-to-the-wheel characterizes such an approach.

Consider the health sector, as a case in point, and how the pandemic stood out as an exceptional example of the global community coming together to respond to a common threat. The pandemic also exposed systemic inefficiencies globally, whether in terms of a lack of a robust rapid response or supply chain problems or the inability of public and private medical services to cope in a crisis, to name a few. In the case of India, the lack of a robust public health system stood out. This can be achieved through a significant augmenting of the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) or community health workers, especially in rural areas. Tellingly, only women are employed as ASHA workers. Providing the ASHA workers employment would have a multiplier effect, especially through their empowerment. Imagine the extraordinary impact if a collaborative project, supported by both the Australian and Indian governments, were to train one million ASHA workers, using the online platform! It would be a true reflection of partnership and an unparalleled public diplomacy initiative.

Several similar projects can be identified that act as the sort of outreach diplomacy is all about. Canberra needs to show the way on how, as a government, it can transform an economic roadmap into a collaboration roadmap. Genuine and sustainable partnerships replace the transactional with the transformational.

Universities could be reticent in embarking on such a project, as it lacks a business strategy rationale. Governments need to step in with funding and support. When it does that, the collaborative promise of international education would truly be realized. This is what brings the peoples of different countries together. It gives the confidence to meet difficult challenges because it is now done collaboratively and collectively. The global response to the pandemic and multiple natural disasters has demonstrated that it can be done. What it requires is transformative and visionary leadership.

(The author is a former diplomat, an international educator, and the third Indian citizen to be appointed to the Order of Australia. Views expressed are personal.)