Higher education in the Era of globalization: the case of India

Existence of educational opportunities in India for learners from other nations can be traced back to at least sixth century B.C., the Era of Takshashila University. India and Indians being strong advocates of spreading education across national boundaries, globalization in the context of India is not a new concept. The major developments in higher education are a paradigm shift from Teacher-centered instruction to Student-centered learning, the acceptance of the concept of life long learning and the emergence of distance and flexible education as a viable and in some cases the preferred, mode of education. Above all, there has been an internationalization of higher education characterized by numerous institutional linkages, dramatic increase in student mobility, and the offering of a large number of programmes across international boundaries. The internationalization of higher education exposed so far is at two levels: at home and cross-border. The cross border education is an inward or outward movement of students, faculty member, physical, and virtual commercial presence. This paper puts forth the case of India with SWOT analysis.