India is on course to soon become the most populous country in the world and has a relatively young population with 45% under 24 years of age. Over the years there has been a sharp improvement in the gross enrolment ratio (GER) at elementary and secondary school level with GERs of 96% and 73% respectively. However, GER at higher education level (28%) remains low by international standards.

The government of India wants to increase the tertiary GER to 50% by 2035, as laid out in the National Education Policy 2020. It is proposing several complementary initiatives to meet this ambition, including a focus on increased internationalisation - facilitating foreign universities to operate in India and development of transnational education (TNE) partnerships - introduction of credit-based courses, and adoption of online delivery technologies and platforms.

The demand for quality higher education (HE), however, is growing much more rapidly than what can be absorbed by the public institutions. In addition to the boom in private provision, there has been a surge in outbound students, seemingly undiminished by the pandemic. UNESCO estimates that over 375,000 Indian HE students were enrolled overseas in 2018/19, with the major destinations being the US, Canada, Australia and the UK.

The UK’s International Education Strategy (IES) 2021 underlines the importance of internationalisation in both recovery and growth of the sector as well as to forge lasting relationships between UK and other countries of the world including India as one of the priority countries. Further, the UK-India Roadmap 2030 signed by the two Prime Ministers lays out a comprehensive policy direction of collaboration between the two countries including in the area of education and research.

Against this backdrop and the interest in both countries to collaborate and pursue internationalisation of education objectives, there is a need to examine potential models of long-term partnership for TNE and associated link to mobility.

Specification:

The key objective of the research is to better understand the evolving India’s TNE landscape and explore the potential for international education partnerships between India and UK aligned to NEP and International Education Strategy (IES) priorities. The research will include four core components:

• TNE activity. Map existing TNE activity in India (from UK and other partner countries) including a profile of TNE models, local partners, subjects offered, study level and tuition fees – and how all these are evolving. The city and state location of current TNE activity in India should also be clearly presented. TNE for the purposes of this study will include higher education programmes (including distance and online programmes), professional courses (such as ACCA) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes.

• TNE policies. Review and interpret existing and planned TNE policies, including those previously developed by AICTE, those currently being developed by UGC and feedback by the UK sector, use of intergovernmental agreements (if relevant) and changes expected from implementation of India’s NEP 2020. This section should elaborate which policies will need legislation/cabinet approval/notification to make them operational, and how national and state level policies and institutions intersect for the purpose of approval and oversight of TNE.

• Views on opportunities and barriers. Seek views from stakeholder groups such as policy makers (national and state-level), employers, India HE sector and UK HE sector on opportunities and barriers facing TNE in India, including awareness and acceptance of TNE qualifications. This should cover both generic issues facing all prospective international partners and issues specific to the UK. This section should also explore the potential for TNE to offer Indian students an international study experience, including degree mobility, short term mobility (such as exchange and credit transfer arrangements) and virtual mobility. The potential benefits and downsides associated with TNE for India (educational and economic) and Indian students should be outlined.

• Lessons from within India and other countries. The research will provide a few current examples of successful TNE programmes delivered by UK providers within India and in countries other than India, where success may be determined by factors such as access, choice, certain disciplines and quality improvements to the local HE system or other factors as deemed relevant to the India context. This section should also seek to identify whether, and how, TNE barriers were overcome, and factors associated with successful partnerships and programmes.

Suggested approach: scope, methodology - The British Council is looking for proposals from prospective suppliers for a tailor-made approach and methodology that best addresses the research objectives and key questions set out above. It is expected that suppliers’ proposals will draw on cutting edge research techniques, including application of relevant conceptual frameworks, analysis of data and presentation of findings.

Timescales

Subject to any changes notified to potential suppliers by the British Council in accordance with the Proposal Conditions, the intended timescales applicable to this Procurement Process are:

Evaluation Criteria

Please refer to below attached documents for details-

• Attachment 1- Request for Proposal
• Attachment 2- Annex 1: Service Agreement
• Attachment 3- Annex 2: Supplier Response Template
• Attachment 4- Annex 3- Pricing Approach