Bangalore : When the theme of a world conference on education is ‘Higher Education in Asia’, then what better city than Bangalore and what better institute than the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore to host it?

Delegates – academicians, deans and directors of B-schools and universities from nearly 50 countries across the world – will discuss and analyze the opportunities for higher education in Asia and India at the 6th Eduniversal World Convention here at IIMB during October 9-12, 2013.

Inaugurated by Mr. Natarajan Krishna Kumar, CEO, MindTree India, on Wednesday (October 9), the conference will focus on partnerships and coalitions among higher education institutions of the world in order to foster sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Mr. Krishna Kumar, who delivered the keynote address on ‘Economic influence on education in India and social challenges’, said: “Indians have a fundamental philosophy that education is very important and we have a propensity to invest in education, so we present a market of great opportunity. However, when foreign universities come to us, they must realize that they cannot juxtapose the European or American model here. They need to build a local product and a local curriculum at an effective cost for India. And they must partner with institutes of global repute here in India.”

Describing India as “a country of contrasts”, he listed the contrasts –poverty vs. luxury, kids dying of malnutrition vs. children battling obesity, and more.  “Ambitious goals and entrepreneurship have positioned India as a leader in the IT sector but it is in this country that you will find world class global excellence co-existing with mediocrity!”

He outlined the challenges for institutes of higher education and urged them to focus on recruiting good faculty, investing in solid research and developing curricula and teaching methodology that would be relevant to industry.

Martial Guiette, Founder-CEO, Eduniversal, France, said: “We live in a globalized village and the thrust that holds it together is education. At Eduniversal, our effort has always been to develop a coalition among the education institutions of the world. In this edition of Eduniversal World Convention, we will focus on coalition and fostering sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation among the higher education institutions of the world while exploring opportunities in Asia and India.”

In his welcome address, Professor Devanath Tirupati, Director In-charge and Dean (Academic) IIMB, detailed IIMB’s growing focus on internationalization, excellence in research, and innovation and entrepreneurship. “Traditionally, the IIMs focused on education and training. Today, the scene in education has changed dramatically and so have our aspirations. We want to be recognized as a leading global school in research and education, and we have been actively seeking collaboration from institutes of excellence from outside the country as well.”

Describing the 6th Eduniversal World Convention as a “truly international event with delegates from every continent in the world”, Dr. Tirupati observed that there is a great deal of potential for higher education in India with enough opportunities to go around for all players.

Over the next two days, the 6th Eduniversal World Convention will have plenary sessions on Asian higher education, rethinking internationalization strategies and maintain balance between independence and inter-dependence, and entrepreneurship and education. There will also be workshops on double degree programs: the future of MBA, and impact and opportunities in the transforming countries.