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Partners in education
More and more Canadian and US universities are showing interest in fostering partnerships with Indian institutes, with 13 international academic tie-ups in the offing.
- By Rajendar Menen, Gulf News Report
- Published: 00:00 November 23, 2006
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- Programmes in IT and animation are the most sought after by Indian students going to study in Canada to pursue undergraduate courses.
The Canadian education system is seriously looking at India. Thirteen international academic tie-ups are in the offing. Some of the top-ranked universities from Canada such as the University of Montreal, York University, Concordia, University of Toronto and Simon Fraser University have shown interest in fostering partnerships with Indian institutes.
Seneca college in Canada has tied-up with three institutes: Whistling Woods International for their Animation Programme, SNDT University and Chetana College of Management for a post graduate programme in logistics. Seneca is now working on at least five more academic collaborations.
Other Indian institutes seeking a tie-up include the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies with Schulic School of Business for its Masters in Life Sciences programme, The K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research with Seneca and Ryerson University in retail marketing, and the Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur, with the University of Montreal for its MBA programme. The Canadian institutes will provide their Indian counterparts technology, software and expertise.
Programmes in IT and animation are the most sought after by Indian students going to study in Canada to pursue undergraduate courses. Around 80 per cent of animation and special effects software in the world is Canadian, but at the graduate and post-graduate levels, engineering and management courses score. In 2005-2006, more than 2,000 visas were issued to Indians for studying in Canada.
"Canada is the best kept secret in terms of higher education. We want to be increasingly present in India. Besides the IITs and IIMs, we would like to partner other institutes too," says Annie Dube, Consul General of Canada in Mumbai.
Along with the Indo-Canada association, American Higher Education India Pvt Ltd opened its first learning centre in Gurgaon to introduce online courses in the country from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Boston and Columbia. Two more centres in Mumbai and Bangalore and more online courses from other well-known American universities are also on the cards. According to Nagesh Singh, president of the company, 12 centres across India are being planned.
The institution has received 150 applications for the engineering degree from Columbia University and more than 45 enrolments for the Harvard Graduate School of Education skill enhancement programmes for teachers. The parent organisation, Boston-based American Higher Education Inc, works with top 100 US universities for education and training solutions. Gurgaon is the first overseas learning centre opened by the company which is also eyeing Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Kuwait.
