Joint undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be developed between British universities and those in countries such as India under new Coalition plans.
In a groundbreaking move, students would be able to complete mainstream qualifications including maths, science and IT overseas after starting them in Britain.
The move comes after business leaders claimed that young people were increasingly missing out in the workplace because of a poor grasp of foreign languages combined with a lack of experience of living abroad.
A report from the Confederation of British Industry earlier this year found that almost three-quarters of companies were dissatisfied with students’ language skills while more than half warned of “shortfalls in their international cultural awareness” – potentially jeopardising trade with countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil.
According to the latest figures, the number of schoolchildren studying languages to a decent standard in England has dropped by a third in just seven years following a Labour decision to make the subjects optional at 14.
David Willetts, the Universities Minister, said he wanted to establish joint university courses with other countries to address the concerns.
“Businesses say there aren’t enough students with experience of languages, different cultures and the wider world,” he told The Daily Telegraph
“British companies want to export abroad but one of the problems they raise with us is that British students don’t have foreign languages and an experience of living in another country.”
He added: “One of my aims is to try and encourage our undergraduates and postgraduates to study abroad and the best way to do that is to ensure it counts towards a British degree. There has to be time overseas doing a programme which a British university recognises and validates. It would enrich the outlook of British students and make them more employable.”
Last week, Mr Willetts led a delegation of university vice-chancellors and business leaders to India as part of David Cameron’s controversial overseas tour.
He said a series of productive meetings had been staged with Indian education and employment ministers with a view to establishing joint projects between the two countries.
Universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, Birmingham and Exeter are likely to contribute towards the creation of 14 new universities being opened in India in coming years, he said.
Mr Willetts also said joint university courses could be established, allowing British and Indian students to switch time between the two countries.
He insisted the courses would “not be a gap year” but a full undergraduate or postgraduate qualification developed by two universities in subjects such as science.
It could become a model for joint courses with other countries, he suggested.
Currently, more than 40,000 Indian students are studying in Britain, but only 500 travelled the other way every year, he said.
Mr Willetts added: “The number of students going to India at the moment is embarrassingly low.
“It is a scandal that only 500 British students currently go to one of the world’s fastest growing economies. I want to get it up to the thousands quite soon. We need a structure in place where there is a mutual understanding of qualifications.”
--By Graeme Paton, 01 Aug 2010