Eldho Mathews is a higher education policy expert whose work focuses on the internationalization of education systems, cross-border cooperation, and structural reforms in Indian higher education. In his current role as Program Officer for Internationalization of Higher Education at the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), he supports the development and implementation of Kerala’s global higher education strategy. His work at KSHEC includes the design of state-level frameworks for mobility, academic partnership, and student outreach.

 

Before joining KSHEC, Eldho served as Deputy Advisor at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), a university under India’s Ministry of Education. There, he played a central role in shaping India’s bilateral educational cooperation, with a focus on evidence-informed policy development and research-led engagement with national and international partners. 

 

Eldho's professional background includes a range of roles at the intersection of education, diplomacy, and public planning. He has worked as a consultant to the World Bank and served as a member of an expert panel for UNESCO’s International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC). His earlier roles include Head of Internationalizing Higher Education (South India) at the British Council, Senior Researcher of Education at Sannam S4, and full-time consultant to both the National Higher Education Mission (RUSA) of the Government of India and the Education Division of the Planning Commission of India. Across these appointments, Eldho has brought together government and academic perspectives to frame and advance policy conversations around institutional development, equity, and internationalization.

 

He holds an MPhil in Educational Policy from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His research has focused on governance and the public-private landscape in large-scale higher education systems.

 

In 2021, Eldho conducted the landmark survey Establishing International Branch Campuses in India: A Survey among ‘Top 200’ Universities, which significantly contributed to India's policy on foreign university branch campuses. He recently contributed to the publication Counting Private and Public in the World’s Two Largest Higher Education Systems: Challenges and Guidelines, led by Professor Daniel C. Levy, which examines data transparency in the context of India and China.

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Eldho brings to TrustED a regional and comparative perspective, with particular insight into the policy and planning structures that shape the transparency and accountability of education systems in India.