Beyond the foreign university model, transnational education, or TNE, is generally understood as education delivered in a country other than the country in which the awarding institution is based. It can take many forms, including joint and dual degrees, collaborative programmes, international branch campuses, online and blended learning, articulation arrangements and other forms of institutional partnership.

For many years, TNE has been associated mainly with higher education. Students could obtain an international qualification without undertaking their entire education abroad. That model is now becoming more diverse. There is growing interest in applying the principles of TNE to technical and vocational education and training, or TVET.

This is particularly important for India and South Asia. The region has a large young population, but the transition from education to employment remains difficult for many young people. Employers in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, logistics, healthcare, renewable energy and digital services increasingly require technical skills that conventional education does not always provide.

The real opportunity, therefore, is not simply to bring more foreign universities to India. It is to use international partnerships to improve the quality and relevance of skills training and, importantly, to make that opportunity available beyond the relatively affluent sections of society.

Towards a Wider TNE Framework

India's policy environment has become more supportive of international educational collaboration. The University Grants Commission's May 2022 regulations provide a framework for Indian and foreign higher education institutions to offer twinning(where students complete a part of their study in India and the rest abroad), joint-degree and dual-degree(where students pursue separate degree requirements from both Indian and foreign  institutions and ern two degrees) programmes. The framework establishes minimum standards for such collaborations and provides for the sharing of academic credits between partner institutions.

The UGC has also established a framework for recognition and equivalence of foreign qualifications. These arrangements are important because the value of international education depends not only on the quality of teaching but also on whether qualifications are properly recognised.

India's approach is therefore gradually moving from a model in which internationalisation largely meant sending students abroad towards one in which international learning can increasingly take place within India.

The strongest social case for TNE may actually be in TVET. A university degree can improve employability, but many occupations do not require a conventional university education. Modern factories need technicians. Renewable-energy companies need installation and maintenance workers. Construction needs skilled tradespeople and supervisors. Logistics requires trained operators and technicians. Healthcare requires a wide range of technical and support occupations.

The British Council's 2025 research, Global Skills Partnerships: Exploring Transnational Education in TVET, makes an important point. TNE is already well established in higher education, while its application to further education and skills is less developed. Yet the research identifies considerable potential for TNE to expand access to high-quality skills training, strengthen TVET systems and create new employment pathways.

This changes the nature of the TNE discussion. The objective need not be to reproduce a foreign education system in India. It can be to combine international expertise with Indian institutions, employers and labour-market requirements

The British Council Experience 

The British Council provides useful evidence because it has worked on TNE for more than two decades and has increasingly moved towards partnership-based models. Its current TNE strategy stresses five principles: quality, strategic alignment, partnership, student-centred approaches and inclusion. It also emphasises that TNE should deliver mutual benefit rather than operate simply as an export of education.

Its Going Global Partnerships programme is particularly relevant to TVET. The programme brings together universities, colleges, policymakers, civil-society organisations and industry partners to strengthen and internationalise education and skills systems. It also supports work on quality assurance and mutual recognition of qualifications.

The British Council's recent work argues for a move from supply-driven TVET to opportunity-driven TVET. Instead of beginning with the courses a training institution happens to offer, the process begins with actual employment opportunities and the skills required to enter growing sectors.

This is a valuable lesson for India. A partnership should not begin simply because a foreign institution wants to offer a programme. It should begin by asking where employment and productivity opportunities are emerging and what skills employers actually need.

Making TNE Accessible to Poorer Students

This is where the question of inclusion becomes critical. There is a danger that TNE could become another premium education product. If international programmes are offered mainly through expensive universities and private institutions, the students who benefit most may be those who are already better educated and financially secure.

The British Council's own strategy recognises inclusion as a central principle. Its India Going Global Partnerships programme also specifically identifies collaborative teaching, virtual delivery and curriculum development as ways in which more students, including those with lesser economic means, can experience international education.

But inclusion requires more than opening the door. The first step should be to take international skills programmes into public and community institutions. ITIs, polytechnics, government skill centres, community colleges and suitable non-government organisations could become local partners for international TVET institutions.

This would allow TNE to reach students who are unlikely to apply to an international university or pay international-level fees.

Bringing NEET Youth Into the System

The most difficult group is likely to be young people who are not in employment, education or training.They cannot be reached simply by advertising a new international course. Many have already disengaged from formal education. Some may lack confidence, basic digital skills or the financial capacity to undertake full-time training.

A more inclusive TNE model would therefore need an entry pathway. A short foundation programme could provide basic digital skills, communication, numeracy and occupational orientation. Successful participants could then enter a technical programme. The technical programme could be modular, allowing students to obtain a certificate without committing immediately to a long course.

The longer-term objective would be to provide progression from an entry-level certificate to a diploma and, where appropriate, to higher qualifications. This is not yet an established TNE solution to the NEET problem. Rather, it is a way in which the flexibility of TNE and TVET could be deliberately designed to address it.

Importance of Financial Support

For poor students, tuition is only one part of the cost of education. Transport, food, equipment, internet access and the income that a young person forgoes while attending training can all affect participation. A training programme that is nominally free can therefore remain inaccessible to a poor household.

An inclusive TNE strategy would need targeted scholarships and, where appropriate, stipends or other forms of financial assistance. Public funding could be directed towards disadvantaged students rather than subsidising international education generally.

This distinction is important. The objective should not be to make every international programme cheap. It should be to ensure that ability to pay does not determine who gets access to internationally benchmarked skills.

Bringing Employers Into the Partnership

A stronger model would bring employers into the partnership from the beginning. An international institution could contribute curriculum expertise, teacher development and international standards. An Indian or South Asian institution could provide local infrastructure and knowledge of the community. Employers could identify occupational requirements, provide workplace learning and participate in assessment.

This would create a much stronger connection between training and employment. It would also reduce the risk of producing qualifications that employers do not value. The British Council's TVET work places considerable emphasis on employer engagement and on connecting skills systems with economic opportunities. Its recent discussion of opportunity-driven TVET explicitly links training to jobs and economic value chains.

For India, such partnerships could be developed around renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, construction, logistics, healthcare, tourism and digital services.

International standards must be adapted locally

TNE should not mean copying a foreign curriculum unchanged. A training programme developed for Britain, Germany or another advanced economy may contain valuable technical knowledge, but local equipment, regulatory systems, enterprise structures and labour-market conditions can differ considerably.

The British Council's research therefore emphasises collaboration, contextualisation and mutual learning.This is an important principle for South Asia. International partners should contribute expertise while Indian and South Asian institutions help adapt the programme to local circumstances.

A South Asian Opportunity

The potential is not limited to India. The British Council's South Asia dialogue on TNE brought together policymakers, quality-assurance agencies, experts and higher education leaders from five South Asian countries and the United Kingdom. The discussions covered TNE policy, quality assurance, partnership management and mutual recognition of qualifications.

This points towards a broader regional possibility. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and other South Asian economies have different labour markets, but they share many challenges involving youth employment, skills development and the transition from education to work.

International partnerships could support regional Centres of Excellence in areas such as renewable energy, construction technology, logistics, healthcare, digital skills and occupational safety & health. Digital learning could supplement local practical training, while employers could provide workplace experience. Mutual recognition of competencies and qualifications would make such a system considerably more valuable.

TNE can then become more than an international education model. It can become a mechanism for connecting global knowledge with local opportunity and, if deliberately designed for inclusion, a means of bringing NEET youth, poorer households and disadvantaged communities into the future of work.

The central principle is simple: international education should not merely cross borders; it should also cross the barriers of income, geography and social disadvantage.

(The writer is a retired Special Secretary, Government of India, and a commentator on Indian and regional financial, geoeconomic, employment and skill development issues. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at ppmitra56@gmail.com.)