Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director at British Council India, tells us how her connection with international education started as a young English teacher volunteer in Nepal, which opened up her eyes to what one can learn from international exposure. She tells us how her professional career took her in different countries in Asia, first as a language teacher, and then within the British Council covering different roles.

Alison shares her insights about the different priorities for international education across the region, ranging from TNE, English as Medium of Instruction, and regional harmonization. Focusing on India we discuss the implications of the National Education Policy 2020, which has created a favourable policy environment for international engagement, and consider India’s ambitious goals for internationalising its HE sector, such as increasing its international student population from the current 50,000 to 500,000 in 2035, including by leveraging the power of TNE…and the rewarding experiences of seeing how international education has impacted the professional journey of people she has worked with over the years.