Teaching is an exciting profession, especially at a time when students confront the harsh realities of a jobless world; degrees are increasingly becoming mere credentials, and the pursuit of too many degrees can itself become a disease. The devaluation of degrees is closely linked to the decline of academic standards. The volatility of the job market means that no job can be expected to last forever; therefore, we need to prepare students not for one job but for many. One instrument through which this can be achieved is pedagogy, which encompasses the interaction between teachers, students and the larger environment in which teaching takes place. It is here that foreign universities make a difference to our emerging institutional design.

Southampton ExperienceIn July 2025, the University of Southampton established its India campus on the ground and first floors of International Tech Park in Sector 59, Gurugram. The university does not give the impression of a traditional campus to someone who has studied and taught generations of students under the lush green chinars of Naseem Bagh at the University of Kashmir. The Southampton campus is more like one building in the new Auqaf Market outside the Sir Syed Gate of Kashmir University. Yet the physical appearance of a university is not necessarily a measure of the quality of education it provides. When one interacts with Indian students and asks about their experiences, the difference, they say, is remarkable. Some students observed: “The process feels completely different from what we were used to in the Indian education system. The classes are far more engaging and interactive, and lectures don’t stay confined to what is written in the textbooks.” The significance of a foreign university does not lie merely in the foreign name attached to a degree. Its real value lies in whether it can introduce a different academic culture—one that encourages interaction, independent enquiry, critical thinking and a closer relationship between the classroom and the world outside it. Foreign Secretary Mr. Vikram Misri described the initiative as a “silent revolution”. Yet the economic dimension cannot be ignored. It reportedly costs around ₹40 lakh for an Indian student to complete a BSc course at the campus. This raises a larger question: can internationalisation of higher education........

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