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energise india-japan partnership in tertiary education, innovation
varsities should consider collaborations with japanese peers
mukul g asher
as india embarks on long overdue reforms of its tertiary and professional
education systems, including promotion of research culture in the universities,
there is merit in diversifying the partners with whom it seeks deeper
engagement in this area. india’s increasing integration with the global
economy, including emergence of indian multinationals, also requires such
diversification.
the us and the selected commonwealth and european countries have been
india’s traditional partners in tertiary education and in innovation
activities. while engagement with them should continue to be deepened, as is
evident from ongoing india-us strategic dialogue, it is essential to accelerate
such engagement with non-traditional countries such as japan, south korea, and
brazil.
this column, however, focuses on the case for deepening tertiary
education and research engagement with japan.
the recent assumption of office by japan’s new prime minister naoto kan
and japan’s efforts to expand international linkages of its universities
provide a favorable backdrop for intensifying such partnership with japan.
there are two broad factors which necessitate such diversification.
first, there has been increasing globalisation of research and development and
innovation activities. thus a recent survey by the national science foundation
(nsf) of the us found that american manufacturers conduct about a fifth of
their total r&d in other countries.
indeed, in several key sectors, such as motor vehicles, textile and
apparel, and electrical equipment, the offshoring share exceeds 30%. while
relevant data are not available, it is a reasonable presumption that such
tendencies are also occurring concerning other major economic powers such as
japan, south korea, and germany.
secondly, the current global economic crisis has diminished medium term
growth and employment prospects of the us, the european union as a group, and
the uk.
india’s rising share of working age population to total population
strongly suggests generation of livelihoods, including for increasingly
educated workforce with high aspirations, as among the highest priorities.
india therefore must explore all avenues for such employment generation.
non-traditional sources, which are rapidly ageing, with japan and south korea
expected to register decline in absolute population, therefore represent an
attractive opportunity.
india should therefore increasingly leverage on countries with strong
global presence of technology intensive companies, and excellent university
system with close industry linkages.
it is in the above context that india must intensify its efforts to
engage universities and research institutions in japan, as well as r&d labs of
japanese corporations.
japan has increasingly emerged as among india’s most important economic
and strategic partners. it is also the largest bilateral provider of economic
and technical assistance.
japan is globally recognised as a leader in many areas such as automotive
engineering, life sciences, electronics, railways, solid waste management, and
renewable energy. its proven competitiveness is based on excellent
universities, who have traditionally been engaged in close collaboration with
industry, but whose international engagements have so far been limited.
this is however changing, with universities introducing more courses in
english, and actively seeking foreign students who could form part of japan’s
talent pool.
japan’s strength in close university-research institutions-industry
linkages has been an area of major weakness in india.
separation of teaching and research and of graduate and undergraduate
education has not permitted realisation of synergies of full fledged
universities combining teaching and research. commercially oriented and
socially useful research collaboration between industry and universities and
research has therefore been limited. this has hampered india’s efforts to
progress on the path of becoming a knowledge economy. deeper engagement with
japan could help address this deficiency.
the japanese government has set up several scholarship programs to
attract foreign students and to facilitate exchange of faculty and researchers.
but indian higher education and research institutions, as well as indian’s
desiring to pursue higher education abroad have not given requisite priority to
exploring opportunities with their counterparts in japan.
for the individuals, need to study japanese language have been considered
a formidable barrier. this is however unwarranted and counter-productive,
particularly given deep cultural linkages between india and japan.
indians are generally adept at languages, with most growing up with
familiarity with at least two to three indian languages. the use of english has
also become more widespread. several states, such as gujarat, have begun to
promote english as a language essential for global commerce and science.
while these are steps in the right direction, importance of non-english
languages on the internet, and in commerce and science is expected to grow as
multi-polar world emerges. functional knowledge of other major languages,
including japanese, has now become more essential.
acquiring such knowledge in japanese language takes about one year. this
is a relatively small investment for widening career options for individuals,
business opportunities for firms, and for enhancing scientific and
technological options for the country. accessibility of japanese language
training needs to be expanded considerably in different parts of the country.
there are indications that indian professionals, particularly in the it
industry, and in engineering are exploring prospects with japanese companies.
indians desiring to widen their higher education options are also enrolling in
tertiary institutions in japan. but the trend needs to be significantly
accelerated.
global operations of companies from japan, including their growing
presence in india, which is beginning to rival similar presence of companies
from south korea, can be expected to provide promising career prospects for
indians familiar with japanese language and business culture.
to accelerate the trend, indianuniversities should consider
collaborations with japanese universities as they seek global partners.
institutionssuch as st xavier’s college in mumbai, which are planning to
internationalise their curriculum, student assessment criteria, and management
practices would also greatly benefit by collaborating with their japanese
counterparts, particularly in science and technology. they could also consider
establishing japan centers to facilitate such collaboration.
the states, such as gujarat, which annually organise global investors
meetings, and which aim to emerge as global business hubs, would particularly
benefit by initiatives to also invite japanese universities and research
institutions to such meetings.
these could be utilised to link similar institutions in gujarat with
their counterparts from japan; and to facilitate establishment of research labs
of japanese corporations in india.
deeper engagement in tertiary education and in innovations will provide
greater substance to india-japan strategic partnership, and enhance economic
space and strategic leverage for both countries. india should also consider
entering into totalisation agreement with japan, recognising social security
arrangements of each country. similarly, an agreement to facilitate indian
workers to fill specific needs in japan could also be considered.
mukul g asher ([email protected])is professor, lee kuan yew school
ofpublic policy, national university of singapore.
