UK business schools and universities should think about ¡°in-country engagement¡± with India to counteract uncertainty over immigration policies and the outcomes of Brexit, a conference has heard.

Richard Heald, chief executive of the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC), made the comments at a session on maintaining strong relationships with India and China at the Chartered Association of Business Schools¡¯ annual conference.

Mr Heald, who had given a brief presentation on higher education opportunities for British institutions in India, was responding to a question about how Brexit and visa worries would offset the opportunities he described.

He noted the ¡°significant fall in Indian students, certainly undergrads¡± in the UK, but said institutions could counteract this through ¡°exporting your content, your knowledge, your expertise ¨C both on a research basis but also on an educational basis¡±.

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¡°If we are going to hang our strategy on post-work visa regulation or waiting for Brexit, I think the train will have left the station,¡± he told the audience. ¡°I think the game, as far as yourselves are concerned, is very much in-country engagement.

¡°[Despite] the noise that you¡¯re seeing in the press [about the government¡¯s recent trade trip to India], the actual mood music is far different. There is something like 150 million people who will be going through higher education shortly in India, and that is a significant pool of opportunity.¡±

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He said that as the Indian government addresses the ¡°glacial pace¡± at which state education systems have moved forward, there is ample opportunity to work with the private sector, both from a ¡°for-profit and not-for-profit basis¡±.

Giles Blackburne, executive director of China Outbound at the China-Britain Business Council, said he saw a similar situation in Asia.

¡°One thing that¡¯s remarkable is the increase in the quality of local delivery in China over the last 5 to 10 years,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s particularly visible [in] business schools, [which] are moving up the rankings.

¡°I don¡¯t know whether the opportunities can offset the fall in student numbers [going to the UK], but I think ahead of that, it¡¯s about getting into the market and trying to collaborate with business schools on the ground, looking for common ground particularly in relation to the bigger-picture opportunities. Collaboration with British institutions is something that¡¯s warmly welcomed.¡±

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Jean Chen, dean of Xi¡¯an Jiaotong-Liverpool University¡¯s international business school, said that while there are ¡°funding opportunities in China¡± at government level, companies are also ¡°very willing to invest in business schools, if they¡¯re good¡±. Mr Heald agreed that ¡°brand image is a concern¡±.

¡°The HR directors of the major companies who act as the important people in terms of recruiting your [graduates], they have a very thin knowledge of who is who,¡± he said.

¡°They will have heard of [the University of Oxford¡¯s] Sa?d [Business School], they will have heard of Cambridge, [some of] the Ivy League, but once you get below that level, top 10-top 15, both UK and Indian, they do not differentiate,¡± he said. ¡°We have to do a better job at educating these [people] on the value of the brand, collectively and individually.¡±

john.elmes@tesglobal.com