Indian university VC calls for internationalisation of higher education in Davos

The future of higher education depends on internationalisation of public and private universities and great institutions worldwide have a direct relationship with the development of economy and society, Vice Chanceller of O P Jindal Global University (JGU) C Raj Kumar has said.

Speaking at the Caspian Week at the 2019 World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland, he said there was a need to take universities seriously which required significant funding, resources and better governance.

"In the era of robotics, mega-data, artificial intelligence and dynamic change, only universities of global standards will prosper, equipped with the ability to innovate and grasp the latest cutting-edge knowledge and research," said a JGU statement quoting Kumar.

Speaking on the theme, 'Philanthropy and Higher Education', Kumar urged the leaders representing government organisations, trade and industry to focus on the growth and development of universities.

"We need to take our universities more seriously. Our universities need significant funding, resources and indeed better governance," he said.

This can only enable them to focus on imparting world-class education that will promote innovative pedagogy in teaching and rigorous research, leading to outstanding publications by the faculty and internationalisation that will provide globally engaged opportunities to the faculty and students of the universities, he added.

The statement claimed that Kumar was the only Indian vice chancellor who was invited to speak at this year's WEF in Davos.

Kumar said great universities around the world had a direct relationship with the development of economy and society.

The new innovations that are taking place in the fields of science, technology, engineering and medicine expect individuals and institutions to drive this change through universities, he said.

The knowledge, expertise and skills that will shape the future will arise out of universities and hence, regardless of the state of economic development of a nation, they need to focus on building sound institutional capacities of their universities, he said.

Kumar further said that out of the 26,000 universities in the world, Asia had nearly 13,000 and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping was home to 9,000 universities.

However, he added, the challenge was how to build the universities with a focus on excellence through recruitment of outstanding faculty, international engagement and cutting-edge research.