Category: India

  • Smog threatens sites that survived centuries of onslaught

    Smog threatens sites that survived centuries of onslaught

    The city of Delhi, capital of India, promises to be a place that lives simultaneously in the present and past. Delhi contains seven cities within it, layered one over the other through centuries of rule, conquest and reinvention. But its future depends on whether its people and government can stave off a new invader: the dust and particulate matter caused by pollution.

    Delhi in the present is a story of traffic-clogged roads, glass-and-steel high-rises and a cosmopolitan population of nearly 22 million people.

    The past lingers in stone and marble, in monuments such as the Red Fort, Jama Masjid and Humayun’s Tomb. In Purani Dilli, or Old Delhi — the last great Mughal capital of Shah Jahan, known as Shahjahanabad — some of the world’s finest heritage structures sit amid dense markets, homes and roads.

    Yet the people who live in this city of so much history struggle to breathe and the buildings and monuments that have withstood hundreds of years of turmoil are now being attacked by the dust particles in the pollution generated from industrial plants and cars.

    From October to February, Delhi’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) routinely crosses 400 — well into the “severe” category. At some monitoring stations, it has spiked above 1,000, levels considered hazardous even for short exposure.

    Smoke on sandstone

    The reasons behind this pollution are complex and cumulative. An analysis by the Centre of Science and Environment, a public research organization in Delhi, has repeatedly found that vehicular emissions contribute from 20 to 40% of the pollution over the last decade. Before 2020, PM2.5 — fine particulate matter that is a major pollutant — had been decreasing but since then has increased.

    In addition, the seasonal stubble burning in neighbouring states releases massive quantities of smoke and fly ash, which creates wind funnels into the city. Construction dust, coal-based power generation and the widespread use of solid fuels add further layers to an already toxic mix.

    This pollution does not stop at human lungs. It settles on stone, reacts chemically with moisture and slowly eats away at Delhi’s monuments. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the air combine with rain and humidity to form acidic compounds. These interact with building materials — particularly sandstone and limestone — causing surface erosion, salt crystallisation and structural weakening.

    A June 2025 scientific study, an Indo-Italian collaboration, documented one of the clearest signs of this damage: the formation of a thick black crust on parts of the Red Fort.

    This is the same monument from which the Indian Prime Minister addresses the nation every year on Independence Day in August. The monument is of both cultural and political significance and modern pollutants are challenging its heritage.

    Restoring the Red Fort

    The crust on the Red Fort is largely composed of gypsum (calcium sulphate), formed when sulphur compounds from pollution react with calcium-based components on stone surfaces. The study found that these crusts trap moisture and pollutants, eventually flaking off and pulling original stone material with them.

    Eleonora Balliana, a conservation scientist trained in stone restoration and chemistry, was part of the research collaboration that examined these processes.

    “In comparison to European levels, the area of New Delhi has high levels of pollution based on the recorded environmental data available by the local air quality monitoring stations,” she said during her field visits to Delhi. “The levels of sulphur next to particulate [PM2.5, PM10, etc.] compounds were extremely high. It is not surprising that black crusts form so quickly here.”

    Balliana notes that Delhi’s monuments are particularly vulnerable because many are built with sedimentary stones like red sandstone.

    “These stones are layered, almost like an onion,” she explained. “Water and pollutants penetrate easily between layers, salts crystallise underneath and eventually the stone begins to peel and fall.”

    Protecting the Taj Mahal

    Rob Inkpen, an independent consultant who specializes in conservation of historical sites, said that the dangers of deterioration of the Red Fort was established back in 2007 when it was first deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the time, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, a non-governmental organisation working to conserve and protect cultural heritage sites around the world, highlighted the need for a comprehensive conservation management plan for it.

    India’s most famous monument offers a cautionary parallel. The Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, began turning visibly yellow in the early 2000s. Pollution from nearby industries, traffic and the polluted Yamuna River was identified as the culprit.

    To protect the Taj, the government created the Taj Trapezium Zone, a restricted area around the monument where polluting industries are banned and vehicle movement is regulated.

    Has it worked? Partially. More needs to be done, several experts say.

    Globally, heritage sites are also showing signs of stress, though in different ways. In Europe, climate-driven moisture, heatwaves and freeze–thaw cycles have degraded stone and wood structures.

    Germany and Denmark, for instance, have experimented with traffic restrictions, buffer zones and continuous maintenance regimes. However, as Balliana points out, solutions that work in Europe cannot simply be copied in India.

    “The scale, the climate and the pollution load are completely different,” she said.

    Climate change makes conservation a challenge.

    Climate change compounds these challenges. A major 2025 global study found that nearly 80% of UNESCO World Heritage sites already experience damaging climate stress from heat and moisture extremes.

    In Asia, including India, a significant share of sites face dual stress from stone and wood materials, driven by intense rainfall events, rising temperatures and swings in humidity.

    Experts, including Inkpen and Balliana, agree that regular maintenance, scientific monitoring, reducing traffic around heritage zones, expanding green buffers and implementing broader air-quality reforms are all necessary.

    “The science is solid, the monitoring exists, but the real issue is whether the surrounding environment is being made any less hostile to the monument,” Inkpen said.

    Balliana is clear about priorities. “Climate change is worrying, but in Delhi, pollution is more severe right now,” she said.

    Heavy rains and heat accelerate decay, but it is air pollution that drives the rapid formation of black crusts and chemical corrosion.

    Delhi’s monuments have survived empires, invasions and centuries of change. For Inkpen, whether these monuments can survive the modern combination of pollution and climate stress may depend on the city’s ability to clean its air.

    “Dividing a complex problem into manageable ‘chunks’ that you can answer with specific methods is not unusual,” Inkpen said. “And often, overarching answers are achieved once they are integrated.”


    Questions to consider:

    1. In what different ways are World Heritage Sites showing signs of stress around the world?

    2. Why might conservation solutions that work in Europe not work in India?

    3. What historic sites have you been to and what condition were they in?

     

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  • How Japan and India will shape the next decade’s workforce

    How Japan and India will shape the next decade’s workforce

    Japan and India are entering a new phase of partnership, built not on formal communiqués but on the steady movement of people. Though they speak different languages, both share respect, reliability, and a quiet focus on getting things done, setting the tone for success.

    Japan today is facing a demographic shift that’s changing its economy and workforce, with labour shortages affecting everything from technology and healthcare to manufacturing, construction, and advanced engineering.

    In response, the Japanese government has introduced new pathways, including the SSW visa, more English-taught university programs, and stronger internationalisation policies led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

    While Japan has been actively reaching out to other countries for skilled talent, India is uniquely positioned to be the partner to bridge the gap at scale.

    India, with its young, skilled, and increasingly global talent pool, is emerging as a natural partner to Japan. With the world’s largest youth population and a fast-growing base of STEM-trained graduates, India has the scale and capacity to make the goal of 500,000 Indian professionals working in Japan by 2030 realistic.

    Against this backdrop, Japan and India are helping convert intent into outcomes by building a three-pillared, structured talent mobility bridge that works across the full continuum — from early awareness in schools to education, language acquisition, and workforce readiness — addressing the real frictions that often slow cross-border mobility.

    Through Japanese language labs embedded in Indian schools and institutions, students are developing linguistic and cultural fluency early, reframing Japanese not as a barrier but as a long-term enabler.

    This ecosystem approach is reinforced through joint initiatives with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), which provides critical institutional linkage to Japan’s evolving workforce needs, and through the digital platform Navi Japan, the official platform for Study in Japan from South Asia. Together, these efforts are helping align India’s scale of talent with Japan’s demand, making mobility not episodic, but systemic and sustainable.

    Moreover, in the last 11 months, interest in Japan is rising sharply among young Indians. Over 25,000 students have engaged with study-in-Japan initiatives through webinars, school interactions, and fairs, reaching more than 1,000 schools across 123 cities, from Tier 1 to Tier 3 locations. This early-stage outreach is vital to building the pipeline that will support Japan’s goal of welcoming half a million Indian professionals.

    In just two months, Navi Japan attracted over 12,000 users, 11,000 of them from India, generating more than 125,000 engagements. These aren’t casual clicks — students are spending close to three minutes per visit, actively exploring degree programs, scholarships, English-taught options, and guidance on living costs, showing serious consideration.

    What they’re searching for is just as telling: business programs top the list with more than 10,000 searches, followed by STEM at over 9,000, strong interest in AI and machine learning with more than 7,300 searches, and thousands more in robotics, computer science, and economics. These are exactly the skills Japan needs most, clearly showing how closely Indian student demand aligns with Japan’s workforce priorities.

    What’s equally interesting is where this interest is coming from. While cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata remain highly active, momentum is quickly spreading beyond the major metros.

    Education isn’t just about earning a degree; it is the most reliable pathway to long-term workforce integration

    Students from cities such as Indore, Lucknow, and Bhopal are appearing in growing numbers, with engagement now seen across 142 cities in India — full coverage in Tier 1, around 50% in Tier 2, and a growing 20% in Tier 3. Students outside major cities increasingly see Japan as a realistic, future-focused option for education and upward mobility.

    This is why student mobility has emerged as the real engine of the Japan-India relationship. Education isn’t just about earning a degree; it is the most reliable pathway to long-term workforce integration. Students who study in Japan gain more than academic knowledge — they absorb the culture, expectations, and work ethic — leaving them better placed to meet language requirements, qualify for SSW pathways, and move into the specialised roles where Japan’s talent shortages are most acute.

    A critical part of this is what happens after education and how students move from the classroom into the workplace. Skills-focused initiatives are helping students prepare for Japan’s workforce through practical, Japan-relevant problem-solving, including programs such as the TechBridge challenge, which introduces learners to real-world domains and early exposure to Japan. These efforts connect education, skills, and career pathways seamlessly.

    Both nations stand to gain considerably from the deepening of this mobility corridor. Japan secures the skilled workforce it urgently needs to sustain its economy, while India gains new avenues for global employment, technical upskilling and international collaboration.

    If current momentum continues, the prospect of 500,000 Indian professionals working in Japan by 2030 is not only achievable but transformative. The real story, however, is not about numbers, it is about two nations building a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership anchored in talent, education, and opportunity.

    There is a mobility anecdote that I love sharing. Indians grow up using Suzuki vehicles, listening to Sony music systems, or working with Panasonic technologies and yet few consciously think of them as Japanese; they are simply familiar and reliable, and that’s a powerful lesson for talent mobility.

    When people move not as outsiders, but, as trusted contributors, integration becomes natural rather than negotiated, and that’s when mobility stops being a policy goal and becomes a lived reality.

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  • The Educated Underclass Without Borders

    The Educated Underclass Without Borders

    Gary Roth’s The Educated Underclass describes a growing population of college-educated people who, despite credentials and effort, are increasingly locked out of stable, dignified work. While Roth’s analysis focuses primarily on the United States, the framework extends naturally—and urgently—to international students educated in the U.S. and to the global labor markets they enter after graduation. When immigration regimes, artificial intelligence, and comparative higher education systems are considered together, the educated underclass emerges not as a national failure, but as a transnational condition produced by modern higher education itself.

    U.S. colleges and universities aggressively recruit international students, presenting the American degree as a global passport to opportunity. These students pay higher tuition, subsidize institutional budgets, and enhance global prestige. What is far less visible is that access to the U.S. labor market after graduation is narrow, temporary, and increasingly unstable. Programs such as Optional Practical Training and the H-1B visa tie legal status to continuous employment, transforming graduates into a compliant workforce with little leverage. Job loss does not merely mean unemployment; it can mean removal from the country.

    Indian students in STEM fields illustrate this dynamic clearly. Drawn by promises of innovation and demand, they enter graduate programs in computer science, engineering, and data analytics, only to find themselves funneled into a lottery-based visa system dominated by outsourcing firms and consulting intermediaries. Visa dependency suppresses wages, discourages job mobility, and creates a workforce that is educated but structurally insecure. Roth’s educated underclass is visible here, but intensified by deportability.

    Artificial intelligence compounds this precarity. Entry-level technical and analytical roles—software testing, junior programming, data cleaning, research assistance—are increasingly automated or augmented. These were precisely the jobs that once absorbed international graduates. AI-driven labor contraction now collides with rigid visa timelines, turning technological displacement into enforced exit. Immigration policy quietly performs the work of labor market triage.

    Chinese students in business, economics, and the social sciences encounter a different version of the same trap. U.S. employers are often reluctant to sponsor visas outside STEM, while Chinese labor markets are saturated with domestically educated elites. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions—intensified during the Trump administration—have normalized suspicion toward Chinese students and scholars, particularly in research-adjacent fields. The American degree, once a clear marker of distinction, increasingly yields managerial precarity, contract work, or prolonged dependence on family support.

    China’s own higher education system complicates this picture. Massive state investment has expanded elite universities and research capacity, producing millions of highly credentialed graduates each year. Yet employment growth has not kept pace. Underemployment among Chinese graduates has become routine, and returnees from U.S. programs often find that their foreign credentials no longer guarantee elite status. In both systems, education expands faster than secure work, producing surplus aspiration and managed disappointment.

    Canada is often presented as a counterexample to U.S. hostility toward international students, but its outcomes reveal similar structural dynamics. Canadian universities rely heavily on international tuition, while immigration pathways—though more predictable—still channel graduates into precarious labor markets. Many international students end up in low-wage service or contract work unrelated to their degrees while awaiting permanent residency. At the same time, domestic Canadian graduates face rising competition for limited professional roles, particularly in urban centers. The result is not inclusion, but stratified precarity distributed across citizenship lines.

    These global dynamics have domestic consequences that are rarely acknowledged honestly. International students and foreign graduates are increasingly perceived as occupying educational and professional positions that might otherwise go to people whose families have lived in the United States for generations. In elite universities, graduate programs, and competitive labor pipelines, institutions often prefer international applicants who pay full tuition, arrive pre-trained by global inequality, and are more willing to accept insecure work.

    For historically rooted communities—Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, and long-established working-class families—the resentment is especially acute. After centuries of exclusion from education and professional employment, they are told that opportunity is scarce and must now be globally competitive. The contradiction is profound: a nation that never fully delivered educational justice at home markets opportunity abroad while declaring it unattainable domestically.

    Trump-era immigration policies exploited this tension by framing foreign students and workers as threats rather than as participants in a system designed by elites. Travel bans, visa restrictions, attacks on OPT, and open hostility toward immigrants transformed structural failure into cultural conflict. Yet the animosity did not originate with Trump. It reflects decades of policy choices that expanded higher education without expanding secure employment, substituted global labor arbitrage for domestic investment, and left working- and middle-class Americans to absorb the losses.

    Universities play a central role in sustaining this arrangement. They function as global sorting machines, extracting tuition from abroad, conferring credentials with declining labor-market value, and disclaiming responsibility for outcomes shaped by immigration law and AI-driven contraction. Career services rarely confront these realities directly. Transparency would threaten enrollment pipelines, so silence prevails.

    In Roth’s terms, this enlarges the educated underclass while fracturing it internally. Domestic and foreign graduates are pitted against one another for shrinking footholds, even as both experience debt, insecurity, and diminishing returns on education. The conflict is horizontal, while power remains vertical.

    The educated underclass is no longer emerging. It is already global, credentialed, indebted, and increasingly unnecessary to the systems that trained it. Until institutions, employers, and governments in the U.S., Canada, China, and beyond are held accountable for the scarcity they engineer, higher education will continue to function not as a ladder to mobility, but as a mechanism for managing inequality across borders.

    Sources

    Gary Roth, The Educated Underclass

    Harriet A. Washington, Medical Apartheid

    Elisabeth Rosenthal, An American Sickness

    OECD, Education at a Glance

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, OPT and H-1B program materials

    National Foundation for American Policy, reports on H-1B labor markets

    Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, credential inflation studies

    International Labour Organization, global youth and graduate employment reports

    China Ministry of Education, graduate employment statistics

    Statistics Canada, international students and labor market outcomes

    David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs

    Richard Wolff, writings on global labor surplus and credentialism

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  • South Asia’s biggest international education stories

    South Asia’s biggest international education stories

    1. India set to become the world’s largest higher education system by 2047

    Delegates at The PIE Live India 2025 heard how India’s projected eightfold growth into a $30 trillion economy presents vast opportunities for higher education, with Niti Aayog’s Shashank Shah asking attendees, “If not India, then where?”. Speakers also highlighted that India is on track to become the world’s largest higher education system by 2035, with over 90 million students — positioning transnational education as a key growth driver.

    2. Outbound Indian university enrolments fall after three-year rise

    For the first time in three years, Indian students pursuing higher education saw a drop of around 5.7%, with over 1.25 million studying at international universities and tertiary institutions, compared to 1.33 million in 2024. This comes amid a range of policy changes in major destinations and the rise of cheaper, nearer options for students.

    The decline is also reflected in growing financial uncertainty around studying abroad in India, with remittances for overseas education falling to their lowest level in eight years when comparing April – August 2025 figures.

    3. More Australian and UK universities set sights on campuses in India

    In July 2025, four universities from the UK and Australia — La Trobe University, Victoria University, Western Sydney University, and the University of Bristol — received Letters of Intent (LoIs) to establish branch campuses in India, just a month after the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued LOIs to five other universities from the UK, US, Australia, and Italy. Currently, nine UK and seven Australian universities have either opened campuses or are in the process of doing so, with not only GIFT City but other economic hubs such as Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, and Chennai also hosting campuses.

    Despite this growth, The PIE has explored the rising debate around the “rush” to enter India’s higher education space at a time when international universities are cutting back on jobs and research, particularly in the UK, where four in ten English universities are believed to be in financial deficit, according to the Office for Students (OfS).

    4. Southampton opens India operations, attracts applications from Middle East and South Asia

    The University of Southampton, the UK’s first branch campus in India, told The PIE at The PIE Live India 2025 in January that the process of establishing its Delhi campus had been “fast, frenetic [and] exciting” from start to finish.

    The India campus, which began operations in August 2025, has since gained strong traction, receiving over 800 applications, with around 200 students joining the first cohort, and applications also coming from the UAE, Nepal, and Myanmar.

    5. Sri Lanka set to welcome first ever UK university campus

    The South Asian island nation, which is the second-largest host of UK TNE students, saw its first-ever UK university branch campus this year, with the University of West London launching a dedicated facility in the capital, Colombo, for local students.

    Meanwhile, Charles Sturt University is set to become the third Australian university to establish a campus in Sri Lanka. The country’s skills gaps and its Vision 2048 development agenda are driving Sri Lanka to pursue such opportunities, as it continues to face limited capacity across its 20 public universities, despite around 160,000 students seeking tertiary education each year.

    6. Trump and Modi pledge stronger India–US higher education ties

    While US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appear at odds on trade, with Trump doubling tariffs on India to as much as 50%, both leaders are advocating closer ties in higher education. Their focus includes scientific research, dual degrees, joint centres of excellence, and offshore campuses, with Illinois Tech becoming the first US institution to receive approval for a campus in India.

    7. Cities within cities to host international university campuses

    Major Indian cities are planning dedicated education hubs on the outskirts of newly developing urban areas. While “Third Mumbai”, a purpose-built education city, is set to host five international universities near the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is developing the Knowledge City in Tiruvallur.

    The Tamil Nadu Knowledge City aims to create a first-of-its-kind education and research hub in southern India, attracting both international and domestic universities, along with academic institutions and research organisations.

    8. Bangladeshi government opens doors to international campuses and dual programs

    Bangladesh’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced its plans to develop “clear and stringent” guidelines for formulating a policy around international university branches in the country. While there has been interest from countries like the UK and Malaysia, the policy’s review and national interest assessments are currently underway.

    The establishment of branch campuses would be seen as key, as Bangladeshi students have faced increasing visa denials and allegations of misusing study visa status to enter the labour market, with universities in the UK and countries like Denmark imposing restrictions on them.

    9. F‑1 visa declines hit India and China hardest

    Though India has retained its position as the US’s largest sending country, accounting for 31% of all international students according to 2024/25 data, it — along with China — has borne the brunt of declining US study visa issuances. The number of Indian students receiving US study visas fell by over 41% in the year to May 2025, amid a range of policies targeting international students, including heightened social media vetting, proposed visa time limits, and increased deportations and SEVIS status terminations over political views and other minor misdemeanours.

    These developments have made international students, particularly Indians, more cautious about studying in what is widely considered the world’s top study destination.

    10. India to unveil new scheme for Indian-origin researchers overseas

    India’s Ministry of Education, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are working to “bring back” Indian-origin researchers and scientists with strong academic credentials, targeting 12–14 priority STEM areas deemed strategically important for national capacity building.

    11. UGC launches dedicated portal for study-abroad returnees in India

    In April 2025, the UGC launched a standardised framework for recognising international degrees in India. Indian students who have studied abroad and wish to return for further education or employment can now apply for an equivalence certificate through the higher education body’s portal by paying the prescribed fee.

    12. B2B international education platform Crizac debuts on Indian stock market

    Kolkata-headquartered Crizac, which plans to expand beyond student recruitment into areas such as student loans, housing, and other services, and is targeting new geographies and growth markets within India, raised £74 million in its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

    The company listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), becoming one of the few education platforms to enter the IPO space. Major edtech players like PhysicsWallah followed later, aiming for a USD$3.6 billion valuation through a USD$393 million IPO.

    13. Cost drives Pakistan’s TNE growth as student mobility barriers rise

    International universities and education providers are pivoting to TNE in Pakistan due to the country’s price-sensitive environment which is creating challenges for students going abroad for education. While Pakistan faces weak investment in research and development, its strategic growth vision is driving rising demand for international qualifications among students, delegates heard at The PIE Live Europe 2025.

    This shift is particularly significant as several institutions, especially from the UK, have halted recruitment in certain cities and increased deposit requirements from 50% to the full tuition fee.

    14. International universities tap into Nepal’s mobile student population

    With a student mobility ratio of 19% — ten times that of its giant neighbours, India and China — Nepal has attracted visits from over 16 universities under the Nepal Rising initiative. The country is already planning 30 or more franchise TNE campuses, with 30,000 students approved by the Ministry of Education.

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  • Who’s helping UK unis open their Indian campuses?

    Who’s helping UK unis open their Indian campuses?

    India is becoming the next transnational education (TNE) hotspot, with nine top UK universities having announced plans to open overseas branch campuses out there. Earlier this year, the University of Southampton became the first of this new tranche of campuses to open its doors, with several others close behind.

    As the TNE boom continues, several universities have revealed the independent providers that are helping them set up their campuses in India. Meanwhile, other providers have expressed an interest in this space.

    Here’s our list of who’s working with who.

    Who’s opening a campus in India?

    Nine UK universities have confirmed they are joining the TNE scramble in India. They are:

    1. The University of Southampton
    2. The University of Liverpool
    3. The University of York
    4. The University of Aberdeen
    5. The University of Bristol
    6. Coventry University
    7. The University of Surrey
    8. Lancaster University
    9. Queen’s University Belfast

    Who are they working with?

    Oxford International Education Group (OIEG) – Southampton has confirmed it worked with OIEG in setting up its campus in Gurugram, which opened earlier this year. OIEG provided the financial backing and the professional services needed to set up the campus

    India Business Group – Another provider assisting Southampton on the ground, India Business Group is providing the university with strategic support.

    Emeritus and Daskalos – The University of York has confirmed it is working with the edtech platform Emeritus to set up its Mumbai campus. Working alongside Emeritius is Daskalos – a new venture from Atul Khosla, the founder and vice-chancellor of Shoolini University, as confirmed by Khosla in a LinkedIn post. Khosla has said Emeritus and Daskalos’s partners include “three Russell Group Universities, one of the oldest universities of the world, a top tier US university and a leading Australian university”.

    Khosla has also confirmed on LinkedIn that Daskalos and Emeritus are working with the University of Liverpool on its Bengaluru campus, as well as the University of Bristol on its Mumbai campus. Meanwhile, it appears that the University of Aberdeen may be another institution working with the duo, with a job posting advertising an Emeritus job at the university.

    Study World – The education infrastructure company Study World is working with Coventry on its GIFT City campus, according to local news reports. The company’s group chief operating officer Kate Gerrard is quoted as saying: “Study World has over two decades of experience in delivering a wide range of educational services in partnership with leading international universities around the world. This association with Coventry University in India will be highly beneficial for students in India and the wider region.”

    GUS Global Services – The University of Surrey has confirmed it it is working with GUS Global Services, with GUS leading on strategic support services such as Indian student enrolment support, advice on the local market and campus and operational management.

    For their part, Lancaster University and Queens University Belfast have remained tight lipped on which providers – if any – they are working with as they explore setting up campuses in India.

    Which other providers could be eyeing up opportunities?

    GEDU Global Education – the UK-headquartered company has already invested in several campuses in GIFT City, making it a prime provider to step in and help institutions set up overseas branches in India.

    UniQuad – an arm of ECA, which has previously partnered with UK universities to run overseas campuses and other TNE projects, UniQuad is a new division with a specific goal of introducing university partners to India’s evolving educational landscape, meaning it’s well placed to help in this area.

    Amity – the private Indian provider is already working with major British institutions – such as Queen Mary University of London – on program articulation arrangements in India, as well as having MoUs with others on things like joint research and dual degrees. Could it be looking to expand into new ventures?

    British Council – while the British Council isn’t a private provider, it is a key strategic enabler for institutions looking to set up in India. It can help with policy dialogue and advocacy, support through the UK Universities in India Alliance, as well as providing market intelligence, helping institutions decide which partners are right for them.

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  • Meet the founder… Bhakti Shah, The Outreach Collective

    Meet the founder… Bhakti Shah, The Outreach Collective

    Describe your company in three words or phrases.

    Explore, exchange, and evolve.

    What inspired you to start the company? Was there a particular moment that sparked the idea?

    After 18 years in the industry, I witnessed a fundamental disconnect across India’s education ecosystem. Schools, universities, counsellors, and solution providers were all shaping student outcomes, yet operating in complete silos — no coordination, no meaningful dialogue, no shared professional infrastructure.

    I was working as an outreach professional with a university at the time. That year alone, we managed 350 school fairs. My team was stretched impossibly thin – working weekends, holidays, special occasions – simply because schools and universities weren’t communicating. The inefficiency was staggering, but the real issue was deeper: there was no equitable space where these stakeholders could engage as equals and build collective capacity.

    TOC emerged to fill that void. What started as a WhatsApp group of 40 people grew to 1,000 within three months. That validated everything: the need wasn’t just real — it was urgent and market-wide.

    How would you describe your company’s mission in one sentence?

    TOC is a Global South–first professional development association building structured learning and networking infrastructure for the education ecosystem.

    How would your team describe you as a leader?

    I hold high standards, I am demanding, but with clear purpose. TOC operates as a not-for-profit with largely volunteer-driven efforts and one full-time employee, which requires a fundamentally different leadership approach.

    But let me be direct: volunteering isn’t a favour, and it doesn’t mean reduced accountability. When you commit to a volunteer role, hundreds of members depend on that work being executed well and on time. I expect basic professional courtesies — respecting timelines, honoring commitments, delivering what you have promised.

    My team would say I expect excellence because the work genuinely matters. Leadership here is about mutual respect, shared accountability, and recognising that impact doesn’t require a paycheck to be real.

    What’s one misconception about your sector you’d love to correct?

    That university enrolments depend entirely on schools. It’s both unfair and strategically flawed. Universities treating schools as transactional feeders is neither scalable nor sustainable as it creates unrealistic pressure on schools while preventing universities from building diversified recruitment strategies. The ecosystem needs to move beyond this outdated model and embrace multiple pathways to students. The sooner institutions recognise this, the stronger everyone becomes.

    What keeps you energised outside of work?

    Two things. First, food — I’m a khansama at heart. If I weren’t building TOC, I’d be running a kitchen. I specialize in Mughlai, Awadhi, and other regional Indian cuisines, and I am equally passionate about baking. Cooking isn’t a hobby for me; it’s how I think, create, and process.

    Second, impact stories. When diverse stakeholders connect in our spaces and say, “We would never have met if it wasn’t for TOC” — that’s everything. Those moments of connection and the transformation they catalyse keep me going. It’s proof that the infrastructure we’re building actually works.

    What advice would you give another founder entering the international education space?

    Fundamentally rethink how you approach sales. Everyone is selling something — universities, companies, consultants — but the conversation transforms when you position yourself as solving a problem rather than pushing a product. Don’t lead with what you offer; lead with the challenge you’re addressing and the measurable value you create.

    In education especially, thought leadership isn’t optional — it’s foundational infrastructure. If you’re only selling without building intellectual credibility, contributing meaningfully to discourse, and adding genuine value, you won’t build sustainable growth. Sales without substance is dead on arrival.

    What initiatives are you rolling out in the near future?

    We’re launching Initiate by TOC, a new entity structured around three verticals: research, learning, and experiences.

    Under research, we’re partnering with Ashoka University to publish Pre-College Skills Audit in India 2026 — India’s first multi-stakeholder examination of skills readiness. The study begins in January with findings released in May.

    The experiences vertical launches with the Sakura Immersion Program in partnership with Acumen – a first-of-its-kind Japan-focused professional development experience for independent counsellors across Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo.

    In learning, we’ve partnered with Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning to offer a three-month Certificate in Career and College Guidance — formal credentialing for counselling professionals.

    If you could accomplish one big thing in the next year, what would it be?

    Building scalable, credential-worthy learning infrastructure that professionalizes the entire education ecosystem — counsellors, university representatives, service providers, and school leaders. This sector has operated on informal knowledge transfer and relationship-based learning for far too long.

    If we can create formal pathways for continuous professional development – where expertise is recognised through credentials, learning is structured and ongoing, and professional growth is accessible across the Global South – we fundamentally elevate how the ecosystem functions. Better-equipped professionals create better student outcomes, stronger institutional partnerships, and more effective solution delivery.

    That’s not incremental change, that’s the multiplier effect that transforms an entire industry.

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  • UK, Australia and Russia top Indian student deportations: MEA data

    UK, Australia and Russia top Indian student deportations: MEA data

    As per government data, the UK recorded the highest number of Indian student deportations over the past five years, with 170 cases, followed by Australia (114), Russia (82), the US (45), Georgia (17), Ukraine (13), Finland (5), China (4), Egypt (2) and Austria (1).

    In a written response in the Rajya Sabha, India’s upper house of parliament, Singh outlined several factors behind immigration authorities’ decisions across countries, most of which related to “violations of visa norms and non-compliance with host country regulations by Indian students”.

    “Entry of Indian students had been denied by foreign immigration authorities on account of their carrying incomplete or inappropriate admission documents of their universities, failing to complete the administrative procedures required for enrolment in the universities, or for being unable to answer basic questions about their chosen field of study in foreign academic institutions,” Singh said, adding that common grounds for deportation included breaches of student visa conditions, such as unauthorised work, illegal business activities, or violations of host-country laws and regulations.

    “Students have also faced deportation by foreign governments for failing to maintain the requisite financial bank balance in countries where they had been studying, for not paying university fees or for being unable to demonstrate adequate financial capacity to support their stay and studies, for having insufficient attendance in classes or for complete withdrawal from the registered academic programs or universities, etc.”

    The data also showed two countries denying entry to Indian students, with the US turning away 62 students over the past year and Kyrgyzstan denying entry to 11 during the same period.

    Embassy officials also visit universities and educational institutions in their jurisdictions to interact with Indian students and student associations and to assess any issue concerning the credibility or quality of courses being pursued
    Kirti Vardhan Singh, MEA

    Just this year, the US revoked visas and terminated the legal status of thousands of international students, with two high-profile deportation cases involving Indian students over their alleged pro-Palestinian advocacy amid the Israel–Gaza war also making headlines. Moreover, between January and May 2025, nearly 1,100 Indians were deported from the North American country due to their “illegal status”.

    While the UK has stepped up action against international students breaching visa rules, with the Home Office now directly warning students via text and email about overstaying, Canada has long faced issues with Indian students entering on fraudulent documents, with dozens investigated for using fake college acceptance letters in 2023.

    High numbers frrom Australia also indicate the impact of the country’s crackdown on cases of fraud and agent misuse, especially from certain states in India, with countries like Russia seeing their universities expel Indian students after “failing to meet curriculum requirements”.

    When asked in parliament about steps to protect Indian students from misleading foreign courses and avoid deportations, Singh said the government gives the issue “high priority” and maintains regular contact with students abroad.

    “Embassy officials also visit universities and educational institutions in their jurisdictions to interact with Indian students and student associations and to assess any issue concerning the credibility or quality of courses being pursued.

    “Several Indian missions also issue formal advisories for Indian students under their jurisdiction aimed towards protecting their interests, welfare and safety in foreign lands,” stated Singh.

    While over 1.8 million Indian students are studying abroad in 2025, MEA data shows that 1.254 million are pursuing higher education and a drop in university-level enrolments abroad from India after three years of growth.

    The US and Canada still remain the countries with the largest number of Indian students, followed by the UK, Australia, Germany, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia.

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  • Outbound Indian university enrolments fall after three-year rise

    Outbound Indian university enrolments fall after three-year rise

    Of the 1.882 million Indian students studying abroad, over 1.254 million are pursuing higher education at international universities and tertiary institutions, while 628,305 are enrolled at the school level.

    While overall 2025 numbers hit an all-time high due to the inclusion of school-level students, higher education enrolments fell by 76,000 this year, ending a three-year surge. Over 750,000 Indian students studied at international universities in 2022, rising to 930,000 in 2023 and peaking at 1.33 million in 2024.

    Despite Canada’s clampdown on international students, with 74% of Indian study permit applications rejected in August 2025, up from 32% in the same month in 2023, the North American country still hosts the largest number of Indian students in universities and tertiary institutions globally, at 427,085 students.

    In the US, despite a 44% drop in study visas for Indian students in August 2025 compared to last year, India remains the largest source country, accounting for over 31% of all international students, with over 255,000 Indian students, according to MEA data.

    MEA data also showed that the number of Indian higher education students in key countries, as of 2025: the UK (173,190), Australia (138,579), Germany (59,000), Russia (27,000), Kyrgyzstan (16,500), and Georgia (16,000).

    Policy changes in major study destinations are impacting Indian students’ decisions. While Canada plans to cut international study permits by over 50% in 2026, the US continues a hostile stance against international students with nine in 10 students fearing for their visas, and postgraduate enrolments are falling across UK universities, with English institutions facing a potential losses under the new £925-per-international student levy.

    Other destinations show mixed trends: Australia has seen a rise in Indian students but remains cautious about fraud and agent misuse, with the recent education reforms bill aiming to address these concerns, while New Zealand has recorded increasing number of study visa applications from India as of October 2025.

    “The growth in mobility patterns in the years following the pandemic were driven by the pent-up demand and welcoming post-graduation work and immigration pathways and policies in destinations such as Canada,” Rahul Choudaha, professor and COO at the University of Aberdeen, Mumbai campus told The PIE News.

    “However, in 2025, the immigration policies became restrictive in all key destinations starting with the US.”

    The decline in Indian students pursuing higher education abroad also follows a sharp fall in study abroad remittances from India between April and August 2025, lowest in eight years, the peak period for such transfers.

    Moreover, according to a recent analysis highlighted by Choudaha, the annual cost of studying in the US has risen by Rs 10 lakh (GDP £8,200-£8,300) for Indian students over the past five years, with currency devaluation and tuition hikes pushing the overall cost of studying abroad up 10–12% in 2025.

    Higher investment outlay along with dimmer chances of recovering that investment has made Indian students nervous and cautious about studying abroad in 2025
    Rahul Choudaha, University of Aberdeen Mumbai campus

    “Higher investment outlay along with dimmer chances of recovering that investment has made Indian students nervous and cautious about studying abroad in 2025,” stated Choudaha.

    “Universities also need to do more in terms of providing career success and scholarships to students to make ease the barrier of upfront costs and its recovery through employability.”

    The rise of destinations such as Germany, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia signals a shift towards lower-cost, quality STEM and medical education beyond the “big four”, including Indian private and public universities which are serving over 46.5 million higher education students as of 2025.

    “Indian universities are more active than ever before in stepping up their recruitment efforts from the home market,” stated Jasminder Khanna, co-founder, Gresham Global.

    “Be it recruitments fairs, conferences or even retreats for local feeders, prominent Indian universities are quite at par with the foreign universities in upping their visibility.”

    With branch campuses of over 15 international universities, mainly from the US and UK, expected to open in India by the end of 2026, and the system projected to serve over 560,000 Indian students by 2040, Choudaha sees the next three years as crucial for these campuses in absorbing inbound demand amid increasingly restrictive policies.

    “The aspirations to gain global learning remain strong while affordability has become a big challenge,” stated Choudaha.

    “With over fifteen campuses offering degrees in fall 2026 intake means that a segment of Indian students will consider these options and over time not only the number of campuses will increase but also the program portfolios offered by these campuses.”

    Moreover, with 97% of Indian students seeking education that leads directly to jobs, according to research commissioned by City St George’s, University of London and conducted by Arlington Research, crackdowns on post-study work options across major destinations are raising concerns, as lobbying to end Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the US heats up and the UK is already set to cut its Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months from January 2027.

    With “shrinking entry-level jobs and unstable economies marginally slowing the outflow” of students, stakeholders need to think of solutions that address both the study-abroad process and outcomes, Khanna said, to ensure Indian and international students continue to pursue education abroad in huge numbers.

    “Reassuring feeders and stakeholders on economic stabilities, local safety, access to meaningful jobs and multi-cultural environments on campuses will bring back some of the lost confidence since the pandemic,” stated Khanna.

    “Students and parents also need to understand that recent student visa policy changes worldwide are intended to make traditional study destinations more meaningful, with a stronger focus on quality — and these changes should be welcomed.”

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  • India and the world – co-creating the future of global education

    India and the world – co-creating the future of global education

    For much of the past few decades, global higher education’s engagement with India followed a narrow script. India was the source of students; institutions elsewhere were the destination. Success was measured in enrolments and mobility flows.

    That framing is no longer adequate – nor is it aligned with the scale of the challenges and opportunities now facing the world. The coming decade will be shaped by ageing populations, rapid technological disruption and the green transition, creating a global talent challenge. At this moment, India stands out as the world’s youngest and most dynamic talent nation – and by 2030, one in five global workers is projected to be Indian.

    If global progress on artificial intelligence, climate and sustainability, healthcare, inclusive growth and productivity is to be meaningful, India and the world must work together – not through transactional pipelines, but through deeper collaboration between education, industry and governments.

    India is not only a key driver of international student mobility; it is increasingly the talent engine of the world. Yet many international engagements with India remain fragmented. MoUs are signed without delivery pathways. Recruitment activity is often disconnected from research, innovation, skills and employability. What is missing is not ambition, but shared infrastructure: platforms that bring universities, domestic and international, together with policymakers, employers, innovators and students to design solutions – not just discuss them.

    The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation

    The next phase of global engagement with India will be defined by mutually beneficial, equitable co-creation.

    This requires moving beyond “India as a market” to “India as a partner” – and engaging India as a federal ecosystem in which states are decisive actors in shaping education, research, industry collaboration and workforce strategy. Tamil Nadu exemplifies this shift.

    Long recognised as India’s leading state for higher education, research and industry integration, Tamil Nadu is now advancing a next-generation model for global collaboration through Knowledge City – India’s first integrated global education district. Designed as a full ecosystem rather than a standalone campus, Knowledge City is planned as an 870-acre, purpose-built education, research and innovation district with universities and research at its core, co-located with industry clusters and supported by plug-and-play infrastructure for global institutions.

    The significance is not branding; it is architecture. Knowledge City enables joint degrees, transnational education delivery, applied research hubs, innovation clusters and skills pathways that are inherently industry-aligned. It is designed to make academic–industry collaboration the default rather than the exception, and to convert education into workforce and innovation outcomes at scale.

    This moment also demands a different kind of convening infrastructure. Not conferences as showcases, but platforms built to translate intent into execution – where governments, domestic and international universities, employers, innovators and student communities can align on priorities and progress. This includes structured engagement through B2B exhibitions, curated G2G, G2B and B2B dealrooms, and focused dialogues that enable partnerships to move from discussion to delivery.

    For those holding responsibility across education, skills, talent and innovation – including ministers and policymakers; vice-chancellors and senior academics; international directors and employability leaders; CEOs, investors; innovators; global employers and talent platforms; testing and credentialing bodies, think tanks and foundations – this conversation is now critical to shaping the decade ahead.

    The focus is not only internationalisation and transnational education – though those remain central. It also spans the domains where universities are now system actors: AI and future learning, climate and sustainability, healthcare, creative economies, diversity and inclusion, academic-industry collaboration, employability and entrepreneurship, and the role of universities in nation-building. These are not “themes”; they are national and global imperatives.

    A delivery-oriented platform should therefore be judged by outcomes. The most serious convenings are those that build the partnerships and systems required for the decade ahead: aligning education with future skills and workforce demand; strengthening sustainable transnational education models; building ethical, student-centred mobility frameworks; developing global communities of practice; providing data and intelligence for decision-making; and co-creating Knowledge City as a living global education lab for research, education and innovation partnerships.

    It is in this spirit that the inaugural India Global Education Summit (IGES) will take place on January 2026 28-29, co-organised by the government of Tamil Nadu and NISAU. The invitation is intentionally inclusive: to Indian institutions and stakeholders shaping India’s domestic education and skills future, and to international partners seeking equitable collaboration with India at scale.

    Registration is complimentary for academic institutions and universities, ensuring broad participation across the global higher education community. For those shaping education, skills, talent and innovation strategies, this is an opportunity to move from conversation to co-creation.

    Registration details are available at educationsummit.global.

    About the author: Sanam Arora is founder and chair of NISAU (National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK) and convenor of the India Global Education Summit.

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  • Liverpool University’s India campus to open in major Bangalore township

    Liverpool University’s India campus to open in major Bangalore township

    While more details are expected at the University of Liverpool India’s launch event in Bangalore on December 15, the campus in the integrated township — which includes residential, commercial, and institutional facilities — will feature “flexible spaces”, according to the university.

    The campus will have smart classrooms, research and collaborative spaces, specialised labs, and comprehensive co-working hubs for faculty, students, and entrepreneurs, offering a “state-of-the-art, 360-degree learning environment” for its inaugural cohort, set to begin in August 2026.

    “We are looking forward to welcoming our inaugural cohort of talented students in 2026 and providing them with an exceptional learning experience that strengthens their skills and employability,” said Lucy Everest, chief operating officer, University of Liverpool.

    She visited Bangalore and Mumbai this week to meet educators, potential applicants, and alumni as the university plans to grow the campus to 5,000 students in five years and 10,000 in 10.

    “Alembic City is the perfect place to realise this vision and our new campus will provide our students with the very best facilities to support their learning journey with us.”

    By the time we open next summer, we’ll have developed relationships with a wide range of businesses and social enterprises in Bangalore, which will be really important for students
    Tim Jones, University of Liverpool

    The university has also opened admissions for 2026, offering postgraduate programs in accounting and finance and computer science, alongside undergraduate courses in business management, biomedical sciences, computer science, accounting and finance, and a game design program — “which combines the university’s music and computer science departments, something not many other UK campuses are offering in India”, according to vice-chancellor, Tim Jones.

    “What we will ensure is that there’s a ‘Liverpool feel’ to the campus. Students who come to the University of Liverpool, Bangalore, should experience the distinctive elements of Liverpool,” Jones told The PIE News.

    “There will be unique features in the design that I hope students will really appreciate.”

    For Jones — who was part of the 126-member UK delegation to India led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which included entrepreneurs, cultural figures and university leaders following the landmark trade deal between the two countries — Bangalore was a natural choice for the new campus for a range of reasons.

    The city, a major IT hub with leading Indian and multinational tech and biotech firms, is familiar ground for the red-brick Russell Group university, which has a long-standing, research partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and ongoing collaborations with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore. Both institutions also happen to have two of the world’s oldest and most prominent biochemistry departments.

    Moreover, one of the University of Liverpool’s biggest corporate partners is Unilever, which has an R&D centre in Bangalore, with pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca and IT firms like Wipro also expected to play a role in research, innovation and industry collaboration through the India campus.

    “We did explore other cities, but it was quite easy for us to pick Bangalore because we had already begun building strong relationships in the city and the wider Karnataka region,” stated Jones, who praised the city’s tech-entrepreneurial culture and the opportunities it offers for a university to “engage, collaborate and grow”.

    “By the time we open next summer, we’ll have developed relationships with a wide range of businesses and social enterprises in Bangalore, which will be really important for students. This is a big focus for us this year — we have already started, and we’ll be doing much more.”

    In the lead-up to the campus opening next year, the University of Liverpool will focus on faculty exchanges between the Liverpool and Bangalore campuses, attracting international students, and expanding scholarship opportunities for its India-based cohort, according to Jones.

    But the university — which views global engagement and partnerships as central to its Liverpool 2031 strategy — is not the only UK institution advancing its India campus plans.

    Nine UK universities now have approval to establish campuses in the South Asian country, with the University of Southampton leading the pack, already welcoming around 150 students in the first cohort at its Gurugram campus in August this year.

    In this landscape, the University of Liverpool aims to distinguish itself from other UK institutions by offering distinctive programs and embedding research from “day one”, drawing on lessons from its only other international branch campus — the Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China — as it shapes its approach in India.

    “We have experience from our successful campus in China, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has nearly 30,000 students. That experience gives us confidence that we can succeed in India as well,” stated Jones.

    “The funding model was also different 20 years ago. But the exchange of staff and students is embedded in what we do in China. I see the same happening with India as the campus develops.”

    However, despite the China campus’s success, recent reports suggest it may require stronger oversight amid concerns about teaching methods, class sizes, and students’ English proficiency.

    While the rapid push to establish branch campuses in India has also sparked debate about the trend among major UK universities, Jones says he is focused on making Liverpool’s India launch a “big success”.

    “It took us 20 years to go from China to India. There will likely be other ventures in the future, but right now, I’m very focused on making this a big success — for the students, for the university, and for India,” stated Jones.

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