MORTAR COMBAT Scotland's cash-strapped universities are finding a

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Mar 18, 2007 | by Julia Fields, Senior Business Writer

IN India, education is regarded as a gift from God. There it is estimated that a third of every family's income, whether rich or poor, is devoted to schooling for the children. For most, the priorities are food, then education. For a growing number, it is education even at the cost of food.

However, even for those who achieve the highest grades, the odds are massively stacked against many aspiring teenagers, as well as their older counterparts hoping to improve their skills.

There are 540 million Indians between the ages of 18 and 34. Every year, 200,000 students sit the entrance exams for the country's seven top institutes for technology. Only 1500 manage to win a place.

The same statistics apply to the five best institutes for management and a myriad of other university and college programmes. Last year, Indian medical students staged a protest to complain about the lack of available spaces, made worse by the government's desire to reserve 50-per cent to help the lower classes of the caste system.

Such is the sad reality of a country that cannot keep pace with its rapidly expanding economy, but the educational deficit has also put India on the radar for Scottish universities and colleges.

Severe supply shortages of educational opportunities are fuelling a drive by higher education institutions in Scotland to internationalise as they have never done before.

For years, the sector has mainly focused on attracting foreign students to Scotland's shores. More than 17,000 non-European Union citizens study here and pay as much as GBP8500 each for the privilege. But new developments in the emerging economies of India, China, the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe have thrown up the possibility of education becoming a major Scottish export.

While Scottish institutions have not abandoned their recruiting efforts, they also have ambitions of providing incountry degree programmes overseas, setting up research collaborations and professor/student exchanges and establishing satellite campuses. Institutions such as Reid Kerr College in Paisley, the University of Strathclyde, Napier University and the University of Glasgow are already making inroads in Oman, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Libya, Hong Kong, Kolkata, Delhi, Malaysia and other far-flung parts of the world.

Others are crowding on to Scottish trade missions to Turkey, the Middle East and Asia to lay the groundwork for new ventures. More than 20 Scottish colleges and universities travelled to India alone last month as part of a trade mission sponsored by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and Scottish Development International (SDI) to check out the lie of the land.

"There are some universities that have been involved with this for years, but there are many others that are new to the marketplace, " says Jack Worden, international dean at Napier University in Edinburgh. "The Scottish Executive has put a lot of emphasis on internationalisation. That's encouraging more universities and colleges to move into it. Before it was patchy with some universities doing a lot and others not that much."

Before Christmas, the Scottish Executive gave GBP750,000 to SDI to set up a six-member education team dedicated to helping higher and further education providers commercialise their research in the US and Europe, sell consultancy services and set up programmes and satellite campuses in emerging markets.

The team will be in place by April and will be monitored over the next two years to judge its effectiveness.

According to Denis Taylor, director of trade and investment for SDI, the agency has been promoting education capabilities overseas for years through its various industry sector teams, for instance in life sciences and energy.

"We've seen increasing demand from the universities and colleges for more assistance. The Executive has injected this amount of money to bring additional focus to the area, " he explains.

The reasons for such an acceleration are manifold.

Thirteen major universities contacted by the Sunday Herald earlier this year claimed the cost of rising salaries, maintaining crumbling lecture halls and student halls of residence, bridging gaps in pension funds and spiralling utility bills were creating a financial strain on current funding levels. Many have been shoring up their finances by attracting more foreign students. But delving into this honeypot is becoming much more difficult.

The Fresh Talent initiative, which allows foreign university and college students to work here for two years after graduation, is making Scotland a more attractive destination. But some observers believe that Britain is starting to lose its edge to the aggressive recruiting tactics of the Australians and Americans. Continental European institutions are also biting at the UK's heels, winning over international students by increasingly offering their programmes in English.

Vicky Treadall, deputy high commissioner in Mumbai, highlighted the benefits for Scottish educational institutions last month. She said entering joint ventures with Indian universities and colleges, providing training programmes for corporations and selling educational materials would not only boost income but would also help build their profile for foreign student recruitment.