Historically, South Korea has been extra of an importer of transnational greater training than an exporter. This is exemplified by the array of worldwide college department campuses on the Incheon Global Campus.

South Korea’s foray into establishing a worldwide greater training presence commenced in earnest solely after 1995, when the idea of ‘education as a service’ was formalised following the General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Since 2006, the South Korean authorities has pursued insurance policies to raise the worldwide standing of its greater training sector. Initial efforts have been centred round exporting greater training providers and supporting the institution of abroad department campuses, coupled with regulatory changes. These insurance policies have since advanced and South Korean universities have been inspired to determine campuses and analysis institutes abroad.

Digital training has turn into more and more prevalent in gentle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic initiatives emphasise on-line diploma applications and collaboration with abroad universities. Even although the excellence of South Korean higher education is more and more recognised, such outreach efforts haven’t yielded many seen outcomes.

Despite a conservative authorized framework and useful resource constraints, South Korean universities have been making an attempt to increase their world footprint by way of franchising instructional applications in partnership with overseas universities. This technique allows overseas universities to function from South Korean universities and confer their levels.

This collaboration gained momentum in 2019, when the Ministry of Education permitted a number of joint applications. These embrace Inha University in Tashkent — a partnership with the Uzbek authorities — and the partnership settlement between Dong-A University and Duy Tan University in Vietnam. Subsequent approvals in 2022 noticed additional growth.

A landmark growth was the partnership between the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and New York University in 2022. It drew substantial consideration as a result of KAIST is an elite STEM-focussed establishments in South Korea. This partnership signifies a strategic shift for South Korean greater training, transitioning from being a quick follower to a pacesetter in STEM greater training.

But South Korean greater training must pay nearer consideration to India. Partnerships between South Korean and Indian greater training establishments should not but in full swing. Current collaborations are on the particular person or institutional stage, with scope for enhancement on the coverage stage.

The pivot to India is pushed by India’s quickly rising greater training sector and its burgeoning position as a worldwide instructional hub. South Korea has explored different worldwide markets for instructional collaborations, however India’s unique demographic advantage, English-speaking inhabitants and speedy instructional reforms make it a very engaging vacation spot.

India’s greater training panorama has been present process a big transformation, marked by rising openness to world influences. Its training sector is expected to reach US$225 billion by 2025. India presents an enormous and engaging marketplace for the training sector, with the world’s largest youth inhabitants of roughly 580 million individuals aged between 5–24. The nation has over 250 million college students — greater than another nation.

Recognising these alternatives, India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is focussed on reworking and enhancing India’s instructional infrastructure. The NEP 2020 aim is to extend the gross enrolment ratio in greater training from 26.3 per cent in 2018 to 50 per cent by 2035.

It is necessary India demonstrates its openness in the direction of worldwide campuses — offering strategic alternatives for world universities to determine a presence in India. In November 2023, India’s University Grants Commission printed laws facilitating the institution of overseas college campuses in India, implementing the NEP 2020’s dedication to internationalisation.

Seizing this chance, Australian universities are making important strides in India’s greater training sector. Deakin University opened its first Indian worldwide department campus in January 2024. The University of Wollongong is establishing a facility specializing in finance, enterprise and STEM applications. The institution of those campuses in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City — a particular financial zone with extra relaxed regulatory frameworks — is indicative of a strategic method. This development can also be a part of a broader worldwide curiosity in India’s training market, with six further Australian analysis universities expressing curiosity in forming a consortium campus in India.

The growing openness of Indian greater training to world influences, coupled with South Korea’s dedication to internationalising its instructional choices, units the stage for potential collaboration and mutual studying.

South Korea can study from the worldwide transnational greater training inflow to India, leveraging these insights to boost its personal world instructional footprint. Aligning South Korean universities with India’s training coverage and market potential might allow a brand new period of instructional change and cooperation. This would profit each international locations not solely by way of tutorial excellence and cultural change, but in addition on geopolitical, diplomatic and socioeconomic fronts.

The longstanding diplomatic relationship between the 2 international locations and the numerous industrial influence of South Korea’s world firms in India might function good beginning factors. Conversely, a scarcity of transnational greater training expertise and institutional sources signify main challenges South Korea would face.

Ultimately, South Korean greater training must take extra formidable world steps. International department campuses have gotten ‘knowledge embassies’, important instruments of each cultural change and mushy energy. India presents a powerful and smart vacation spot for South Korean greater training.

Kyuseok Kim is PhD pupil within the Department of Education at Korea University.