In order to attract foreign faculty in India, a programme
Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN), was introduced. It has started
but only in IITs, NITs and technical education initially.
Foreign faculty is teaching but only in four institutes i.e. NIT, Patna, Jamia Millia Islamia, IIT, Kharagpur and IIT, Gandhinagar. They are teaching non-science courses. A course on conservation and architectural heritage of 19th and 20th century is being taught by a foreign faculty in NIT Patna. A course on 'Religious Fundamentalism in a Global Perspective: Islam, Christianity and Judaism' will start from next week in Jamia. A course on planning and management of cultural heritage sites is underway in IIT, Kharagpur.
A course is being taught on 3D digitisation for cultural heritage in Gandhinagar. The apex body has approved around 297 courses to be taught by foreign faculty. Various institutions/universities had sent 140 proposals which were rejected. As of early February, 88 courses were sent for review. The important task of GIAN is to make available courses offered by foreign teachers. Confirmation by foreign faculty to spend a term in India is awaited in case of 32 courses while in five cases they declined to come.
For each term of a teacher, centre will have to spend $8000. In IIT, Kharagpur foreign faculty is teaching 12 courses in orthopaedic biomechanics to robotics. students of IIM, Ranchi, are taking a course on sports and entertainment marketing by foreign faculty, in Kozhikode a course is being taught on impersonal, interpersonal and hyperpersonal communication at work. Other institutes opting for foreign faculty are Universities like Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, an MP university, Tezpur University and Central University of Gujarat.