The future will need people with a high-quality education. AI is reducing opportunities for those with a mediocre education. Further, technology is making online education highly affordable.
BRICS’ member countries have good under-graduate education. So,
BRICS.edu can focus on post-graduate studies and research in selected
disciplines. By its very nature, it will be international and prestigious. It
should not be a white elephant, sucking public funds. It should charge
reasonable fees and ensure that each department prepares alumni who will earn a
good salary.
A contribution each BRICS country should make is to ensure
that students selected for admission to BRICS.edu gets a collateral-free loan
for studies. The law could ensure that alumni who do not return to work in
their own country repay the bank-loan at commercial rates.
BRICS.edu should pay its faculty well, using this as an
opportunity to get back its nationals trained in the best institutions in the
world. Faculty exchange mechanisms should be set up to have faculty members
move between campuses of the university based on mutual interest.
BRICS countries share several common problems. So, BRICS.edu
will not lack challenges for its researchers.
Every BRICS member should identify a large university and
build a BRICS.edu campus near it. This would promote collaboration with the
country’s best minds.
Instead of being an island of excellence, the BRICS.edu
should make its courseware publicly available. It should publish all its research
in free-access journals. Ideally, the university should publish its own journals.
Every country should consider publishing a domestic version in a suitable
language.
Srinivasan Ramani
13-09-2026
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