Learning centres plan to open doors to foreign students

A three-day international meet commencing here on Friday will draft a plan aimed at wooing foreign students to centres of higher learning in the State.

According to Education Minister P.K. Abdu Rabb, local students will be encouraged to pursue partial semester studies abroad as per provisions of the plan.

Mahatma Gandhi (MG) University and Cochin University for Science and Technology have initiated steps to run tailor-made India Semester programmes for foreign students.

Appropriate policy and academic frame works along with strong infrastructural facilities will be put in place with the support of the State Government, the Minister tod newspersons here.

Student/faculty exchanges, twinning, and joint degrees will be considered at appropriate levels. The focal theme for the meet will be ‘Transnational education: Global trends and local opportunities.’

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the meet, the conduct of which is being overseen by an international group formed under Kerala State Higher Education Council.

Rabb will preside over and Shashi Tharoor, Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development; T.P. Sreenivasan, Vice-Chairman, and P. Anvar, Member-Secretary of Council; Prof. Dinesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi, will speak.

Specific sessions planned include aspects of transnational education such as quality assurance; acceptability; role of private sector; open education; e-Learning; massive online open courses (MOOC): credit transfer and diversity in classrooms.

Manifold increase in demand for transnational education offers unique opportunities but also challenges for practitioners and policymakers.

GREY AREAS There are grey areas to be addressed through negotiations, the Education Minister said. The meet is expected to stimulate debate on learning from best practices in other countries and regions and to moot a policy framework to promote transnational education in the State. Recommendations of the summit will be presented to the State and Union Governments as ‘Thiruvananthapuram Declaration on Transnational Education.’

Confirmed speakers at the meet include Deborah Brosnan (University of California); Bhagavat Shonil (British Open University, the UK); Muralee Thummarukudy (UN Environment Programme); Sylvia Heuchemer (Cologne University); Olof Linden (World Maritime University Sweden); Scott Simkins, Leslie Boney (North Carolina State University); and Guenther Straub (Germany).

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