Critics fear a “two‑tier” higher education system is developing in parts of India as more Western universities gain permission to launch branch campuses, with fears that the new names will take staff and students away from underfunded public institutions.
The approval of the University of Western Australia (UWA) to launch its latest branch campus in Chennai has recently highlighted the criticism others might face as they gear up to operate in India.
The Joint Action Council of College Teachers (JAC), a coalition of major higher education and faculty associations in the state of Tamil Nadu, raised formal objections about UWA’s final approval from the University Grants Commission (UGC), highlighting that more than half of Tamil Nadu’s 21 state universities are experiencing faculty vacancies.
(...)
