More than a hundred thousand students took admission in US universities last year. It was certainly not only because they all didn’t get admission in good colleges in India. Few might have got a good scholarship too. But the majority of them would be paying the cost themselves. Either their family would bear it or in some cases they might get financed by some banks. I wish the majority of them would have joined good universities that certainly provide better education.

Why couldn’t the corporate India that all the time keep on complaining about the quality of graduates coming out of Indian educational institutes establish some world class universities seeking collaborations with the best in the field worldwide as they do in their core business? Perhaps the main reason was the government policy. However, there are some exceptions. I remember one at least and that is BITS, Pilani.

As it seems, the government may come out with some reform and allow the collaborations and business with profit in education sector too. Recent Indo-US summit for cooperation in higher education may pave the way. It was interesting to read a speech of Hillary Clinton in the conference.

“Last year, we welcomed over 100,000 students from India to pursue college or graduate-level study here. But we think the opportunities for collaboration are even greater. And, particularly, we want to see more American students enrolling for academic credit at Indian institutions.”

When the world class facilities in a pretty good number of the hospitals in India established by the private sectors can attract so many of foreigners for treatment in India, why can’t a similar facilities in higher educational institutes attract a large number of students from the developed countries? And that will be a win-win situation. Corporate India must go all out to establish the best educational institutes in specific fields and the government must support it removing all the business hurdles. The students coming in and going out are the best ambassadors of the country. It will certainly make the world a better place.

I was really impressed by the story that Hillary Clinton narrated in course of the speech:

“A few years ago, a small group of American and Indian classmates at Stanford University decided to work together to build a better baby incubator. Four hundred and fifty premature and low-weight babies die every hour, and traditional baby incubators can cost as much as $20,000. So, the students developed the Embrace baby warmer, a portable incubator for use in poor and rural areas that doesn’t require electricity and only costs around $100. After graduating from Stanford, this Indian and American team moved to Bangalore to continue working on their idea and launched their project. And, it’s now in use in hospitals in India and saving babies’ lives. Their goal is to save 100,000 babies by 2013.”

I wish there could be hundreds and thousands of such projects and collaborations among the young men and women of the world.