08/08/2013
India education bulletin – July 2013
India calls for research alliances –
India’s Education Minister while admitting new laws to allow foreign universities to establish campuses in India are too restrictive instead urged institutions to develop intensive research collaborations, student-faculty exchanges and joint degree programs. Pallam Raju stressed India was eager to explore possibilities around mass-scale, in-country vocational training as the country strives to train 400 million young people by 2022. Reports the Australian.
Fresh accreditation for colleges and universities across India
The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has granted fresh accreditation to 42 higher education institutions and re-assessed the accreditation of 34 other institutions. This includes Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), deemed university, and five colleges located at Thiruvithancode, Kanyakumari, Chennai, Namakkal and Tiruchy. The five colleges which were re-accredited by the NAAC are in Sivakasi, Vellore, Tirupur, Madurai and Thoothukudi. Reports New Indian Express.
Indian varsities eye EU rankings to improve standing
Indian universities are determined to prove their standing in a new ranking platform funded by the European Commission, U-Multirank which holds the promise of giving Indian universities a more respectable standing than they have so far managed, and help them gain global acclaim. The UGC has written to all universities to actively participate in U-Multirank in the hope that this would help showcase Indian higher education globally. Reports New Indian Express.
Read more: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/varsities-eye-eu-rankings-to-improve-standing/1142259/
New kid on the block - Ashoka University enters IHE sector
A group of academicians and entrepreneurs are set to open Ashoka University, which is set to take off in August 2014 from the National Capital Region. Ashoka promises high-quality, top-notch liberal education, banking heavily on private philanthropy. Converging on the idea of building a benchmark for liberal arts education in India, some of the co-founders wasted no time in meeting Pramath Raj Sinha, founding dean of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, who was happy to be on board. Reports New Indian Express.
MHRD's Rs 99,000 crore plan to boost higher education, improve enrolment
India will substantially increase the number of students in higher education in next seven years. The presentation made by the HRD ministry to the Consultative Committee expressed that Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio and the scheme will cost Rs 99,000 crore and will include other existing schemes in the sector. The scheme highlights that central funding from the MHRD and UGC to institution will be through the state council of higher education as against the direct funding by the Centre and UGC to educational institutions of higher education. It is proposed to set eligibility criteria for states to achieve a high and sustained impact of the project through monitoring and evaluation. The other attempt will be to convert colleges to cluster universities and set up new model colleges. The strategy will also include converting existing degree colleges to Model Colleges. Reports the Times of India.
CMAT 2014 in foreign countries for NRI students
The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) will conduct Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) in five foreign venues, a decision taken reportedly to enable non-resident Indians or persons of Indian origin and foreign nationals seeking admission in Indian institutions. CMAT 2014 would be conducted from Sept 26 to Sept 30, 2013 in 62 cities in India for admission to the 2014-2015 session. Reports India Today.
India leads in education, says Cornell University President
A top American academician has described the drop in number of Indian students joining US universities as brain circulation rather than as reverse brain drain. President of Cornell University, David J Skorton said India is leading the world in cutting edge outsourcing technology and technological revolution of sorts is happening there. The number of Indian students studying in the US has dropped for the second consecutive year, according to reports. Reports Business Standard.
Students skip IIT counseling to study abroad
As many as 96 candidates have decided not to come to IIT-Kharagpur for admission counseling this year. Most candidates, while citing their inability to come for counseling, have told the IIT Kgp authorities that they have either secured admission abroad or are going to study maths and physics in institutions like Chennai Mathematics Institute or IISc Bangalore. Some have even said that since they did not get their preferred stream of engineering, they would rather go to a non-IIT institution. Students, whose ranks make it impossible for them to get anything beyond mining, ceramic and metallurgy, are the ones who are dropping out of the IIT fray to join other institutes. Nationally, 769 candidates did not come for counseling in the IITs, which is a whopping number, feel experts. Reports the Times of India.
Read more: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-11/news/40513400_1_vacant-seats-merit-list-iits
Presidency University to offer interdisciplinary courses
Come July, science students can get a taste of liberal arts and those delving into humanities can take up a science subject at Presidency University here, a varsity professor said on Friday. "This is the first such initiative in the country. In the traditional Indian university education system, honours students are required to take up two pass subjects... We have replaced the pass subjects," said professor Somak Raychaudhury, head of Presidency University's physics department. "So, instead of forcing pass subjects on students, we decided to break them up and have a list of 10 papers. All the honours students are required to take up 10 papers. While the science students are needed to take at least two arts papers, it is vice versa for students of humanities," the professor added. Reports the Times of India.
AMU signs pact with Ohio University
The Ohio State University proposes to launch a pilot project in partnership with Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to meet the growing need for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) faculty in India. US secretary of State, John Kerry signed eight MoUs with M M Pallam Raju to increase collaboration between Indian and American higher education institutions. Each of these projects will receive an award of about $250,000. Reports India Edu News.
Read more: http://www.indiaedunews.net/Uttar_Pradesh/AMU_signs_pact_with_Ohio_University_16372/
Admissions begin for international twinning programmes at Manipal University
Manipal University has opened admissions to its international engineering twinning programmes also known as ICAS ( International Centre for Applied Sciences). In this program, students study their 1st and 2nd years of engineering in Manipal university (Manipal campus) and the 3rd and 4th years in one of the 74 universities across six countries where they would receive their engineering or equivalent degree. The course curriculum, methodology and evaluation is based on the US University structure/pattern and is compatible with most of the US, Australian and European universities. Reports the Times of India.
More students opt for foreign varsities, unusual courses
With competition for admission in popular colleges in the country getting stiffer with each passing year, going abroad has become a more tempting option. Junior colleges and schools, such as Xavier's College and Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, have appointed counsellors to guide students regarding overseas education. Reports Mumbai Mirror.
Competitor Update
International students important for US colleges
International students play a critical role in sustaining quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduate programmes at US universities, a new report from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) argues.
The report states that foreign students make up the majority of enrolments in US graduate programmes in STEM fields. “International students help many universities have enough graduate students to support research programmes that help attract top faculty and that also thereby help US students by having a higher-quality programme than they otherwise would have,” said Stuart Anderson, NFAP’s executive director and author of the report. The report also emphasises the value that international students can bring to the US economy after graduation as researchers and entrepreneurs. Reports Times Higher Education.
Russian universities eye Indian students for medical seats
The Russian government has announced unique opportunity for Indian students to seek admission to the MBBS and post-graduate medical courses at universities in Russia. Some of these universities include People's Friendship University of Russia, Moscow; I M Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, St. Petersburg; I P Pavlov State Medical University; Tambov State Medical University; Nizhny Novgorod State Medical University and Ryazan State Medical State Academy, among others. For ensuring safety and transparency, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in India has recognized EDURUSSIA as the authorized ad-mission department of the Russian state and government universities in India. Reports the Times of India.
Student accommodation: international demand for an all-round experience
UK, US and Australian universities are among the best in the world but also among the most expensive. A survey of 1750 students by Campus Living Villages UK found they preferred accommodation that was comfortable, modern and included private living, learning and leisure spaces – all with unlimited wifi access, of course. Institutions are tackling this challenge by partnering with private companies to help meet student demands while ensuring their own focus remains academic. This responsibility has fallen to accommodation providers in the US and Australia and increasingly in the UK.
Open Polytechnic hosting delegates from India
Leading distance education provider, the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand hosted delegates from India’s National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), the largest open schooling system in the world. NIOS’s Dr Krupankar Wasnik , Director, Vocational Education and Dr ( Ms) Mamta Srivastava, Deputy Director, Vocational Education are visiting the Open Polytechnic’s campus in Lower Hutt for four days. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the two organisations in 2011 under which the Open Polytechnic is working with NIOS.During the visit the two organisations are planning the next phase of collaboration including online course development, a ‘train-the-trainers’ programme and taking forward a recognition of prior learning framework developed with Open Polytechnic support last year. Reports Voxy.
Read more: http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/open-polytechnic-hosting-delegates-india/5/161011
France offers five year visas to students
France’s reputation as a favoured destination for Indian students looking to pursue postgraduate and doctoral programmes received a fillip with its recent announcement to offer long-stay visas of five years. This year, 13 students from Karnataka have bagged the scholarships to fund their higher education in France.
The pre-departure session for students travelling to France to join the fall academic session was inaugurated by Eric Lavertu, Consul-General of France in Bangalore.Since, France offers many courses in English students need not mandatorily learn French to study there, mentioned an official. Reports the Hindu.
Europe pours money into winning study-abroad programme
The European Union's popular Erasmus exchange programme will receive one of the largest funding increases in the EU's next long-term budget, part of an effort to counter the rising tide of young unemployed. The programme has branched out into student traineeship placements and job-swaps for academic staff. To try to build on its remarkable success and counter record-high levels of youth unemployment in several EU member states, the programme's budget will rise by 40% to 14.5 billion euros in the EU's 2014-2020 budget. At the same time a volunteer programme and youth and sports projects, will be folded into it and the name will be changed to Erasmus+. Reports Economic Times.
13% of international students in US are Indians
A top American academician has described the drop in number of Indian students joining US universities as brain circulation rather than as reverse brain drain. "I call it as a brain circulation and in the past it was going in one direction. We see discoveries are coming in the field of medicine, agriculture, technology from places that we did not think of in the past. Reports Deccan Herald.
Read more: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/343667/13-international-students-us-indians.html
10 mn dollars grant to boost India-Australia education ties
Australia today announced a 10 million dollars grant to unlock the potential in research and education with India in areas like science, biotechnology and climate change. Australia's Minister for Higher Education Kim Carr made the announcement along with visiting Human Resources Development Minister M Pallam Raju, who is here to influence Australian universities and vocational institutions to forge closer ties. Reports Business Standard.
Australia, India collaborate for new education programme
Australia will enable 29 higher educational institutions to send 300 students to India under a new education programme in collaboration with New Delhi, an official statement said Saturday. The programme was finalised during a meeting between Human Resource Development Minister M.M. Pallam Raju and Australian Minister for Higher Education Kim Carr at the annual Australia-India Ministerial Dialogue on Education Cooperation held in Sydney Saturday, a joint statement said. Reports Business Standard.
Related news
University of Central Lancashire to open a study centre
This is the 3rd international study centre in Bangladesh.
English reintroduced in Indonesian primary schools
Enhance UK-Indonesia collaborations and boost the UK ELT and EdTech sectors.
