From the Director’s desk

Today, there has been a rapid shift in Higher Education and given the trends of Globalisation and Internationalisation, more and more students are looking at opportunities to pursue their education in foreign countries – as a result, there has been growth in trend of Studying Abroad. Studying abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in a country other than one’s own. Studying abroad may be one of the most beneficial experiences for a college student as it gives them the opportunity to study in a foreign nation and take in the allure and culture of a new land.

The number of students pursuing their studies abroad continues to surge as higher education institutions around the world vie for the best and brightest minds. According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, in 2012, at least 4 million students went abroad to study, up from 2 million in 2000 and Central Asia experienced a steady rise in the number of students studying abroad – this group grew from 67,300 in 2003 to 156,600 in 2012. While traditional destination countries, such as the United States and United Kingdom, remain strong magnets for students seeking a

high-quality education, new destination countries and regional hubs are competing for a share of the revenue and intellectual capital of international students. Australia, France and Germany are also amongst the top 5 study abroad destinations but are now facing competition from upcoming destinations like China, Malaysia, Singapore and New

Zealand. In terms of countries sending the largest student populations overseas to study, the top 5 countries are China, India, Republic of Korea, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

There are many reasons for considering studying abroad, but usually the biggest attraction for students is that it is an avenue to see the world, experience a different country with incredible new outlooks, customs and activities and also take in new cultural

perspectives as they leave their home for the first time. Secondly, studying abroad gives them the chance to experience different styles of education and challenge themselves intellectually in their new academic environment. In addition to personal development, discovering their own interests, becoming more independent and making lifelong friends from different backgrounds, the other important benefit offered by studying abroad is its role with future opportunities for students – be it related to their careers and employment or admissions in academic programs after completion of their degrees.

These graduates return with a new perspective on culture, language skills, a great education and a willingness to learn – needless to say, all these are very attractive to future employers and school admissions boards who look very highly on study abroad experiences.

The study abroad landscape is definitely one which is evolving and given the development of new regional hubs and dedicated transnational education (TNE) initiatives, it will be interesting to see how this space evolves in the coming years, particularly with the emerging education markets of South East Asia.

-Vedica Podar

What’s Making Headlines?

IIT Delhi, PU among top 2 per cent institutions of higher education worldwide

 IIT-Delhi and Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh have been ranked among the top 2 per cent institutions of higher education worldwide, a Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) report said.

PU has been ranked second among Indian Universities and 4th among all Higher Education Institutions of the country. The university is among the 25,000+ degree- granting institutions of higher education worldwide in this year’s CWUR World University Rankings.

There are sixteen institutions from India in the top 1000 that include 6 universities and 10 institutes including IITs, IISc, AIIMS and TIFR.

IIT-Delhi tops among the Indian institutions with a rank of 341 and an overall score of 45.54. IIT-Delhi is followed by Delhi University(DU), Indian Institute of Science(IISc) and Punjab University. Thus, PU is second among Indian Universities and fourth among all the higher education institutions in the country. Previous year, PU ranking was 543 in the world and 5th in India. In 2014, PU was ranked after IIT-Delhi, DU, IISc and IIT-Bombay. This year, PU has an overall score of 44.8. Harvard University from USA tops the overall list.

The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) publishes the only global university ranking that measures the quality of education and training of students as well as the prestige of the faculty members and the quality of their research without relying on surveys and university data submissions.

“It is great to know that Punjab University continues to be adjudged among the premier most academic institutes of India in numerous national and international surveys

that assign different weight factors to a variety of parameters. An analysis of details of different rankings shall provide us guidance to set our priorities in attending to different sectors, where improvements are urgently required if we are to retain our competitive position, given our own limited resources and uncertain and inadequate Governmental support. The material contributions from our alumni who have done well and the Corporate Sector are our hope for support, if we have to

Sector are our hope for support, if we have to bridge the gap between us and the rest of the Universities in China and South Korea. The PU faculty has new confidence and enthusiasm today, I am looking forward to work with them during my second term,” Vice Chancellor, Punjab University Prof Arun Grover told Mail Today. Source: India Today (19th July, 2015)

77% of parents would consider study abroad for children, says HSBC report

 More than three quarters of parents who took part in a worldwide survey carried out by UK- based multinational banking and financial services company HSBC would consider sending their children abroad for university. Parents in Asia, especially, are willing to overcome cost barriers to give their children an international education. Of the 5,550 parents surveyed across 16 countries, 77% said they would consider having their children study abroad at either undergraduate or postgraduate level to help them stand out in competitive job markets.

The Learning for Life report revealed widespread concerns about employability, with 47% of respondents saying they think it will be harder for their children’s generation to find a job after graduation than it was for their own.

Other key benefits of studying abroad that parents identified included giving students the opportunity to become more knowledgeable about the wider world (78%) and to experience different cultures (51%).

According to the report, “Parents in Asian countries are most receptive to the idea of sending their child abroad for undergraduate study”. The results show that Malaysia had the highest positive response rate, with 80% of parents saying they would consider it, followed by almost three quarters of all parents surveyed in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore.

Parents in India (88%) were most likely to consider postgraduate study abroad for their children, followed by Turkey (83%), Malaysia (82%) and China (82%).In contrast, just 52% of parents in Australia, 53% in Canada and 59% in the USA said they would consider sending their children abroad for postgraduate study.

Cost is the main barrier to study abroad,

according to the report. Around a third of the parents who would not consider sending their children overseas to study, said that they would like to but could not afford it.

The report also notes that parents’ awareness of the cost of an overseas education varies according to their children’s age. A higher proportion of parents with pre-primary aged children said they would consider sending them abroad for university education, than those with children of university age – 82% compared with 72%.Correspondingly, the proportion of parents concerned about cost also increases as their children get older. The proportion of parents willing to pay more was particularly high in China, where 69% of parents said they would pay a quarter more than at home, followed by 62% in Hong Kong and 59% in both India and Taiwan.

“Our survey told us parents believe an international education can help their child stand out from their peers in a job market which has become increasingly difficult,” Caroline Connellan, Head of UK Wealth at HSBC, told The PIE News.

“This is why many parents – especially in Asia – are willing to send children abroad at university, and pay more for the experience compared to what they would pay to educate their child at home,” she explained. Source: The Pie News (16th July, 2015)

Government may add skill development courses in school curricula: Sources

 The government is mooting proposals to add courses aimed at skill development at a young age in school curricula so that students have a wider scope when they enter the professional space. “Proposals are being mooted to begin skill development courses from classes as early as 9th standard. It is aimed at generating employment as well as to bring clarity about career choices to students at a very young age,” sources said

Employment generation is government’s big thrust area. It is a long-term plan, so the flow of employment generation can actually be seen in about 3-4 years of time, they added. India has a great potential for skilling people in various fields such as textiles, handicraft and artifacts that have a huge demand abroad, they further said.

“So, by skilling students at a young age, India can tap the potential of such skilled professionals and mitigate the problem of employment generation,” they added.

Skill development and labour reforms are among the key focus areas of the BJP

led National Democratic Allance government to thrust upon its ‘Make in India’ campaign. Last week, government had approved the first integrated national policy for developing skills and promoting entrepreneurship at a large scale with speed and quality. Also, common norms for Skill Development Schemes are being implemented by the Centre and an institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission have been approved.

National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy. Earlier this year, three

sub-groups were formed under NITI Aayog, of which one has to deliberate recommendations to promote skill development and creation of skilled manpower within states. Source:

The Economic Times (5th July, 2015)

National Skill development policy: With aim to bridge existing skill gap, govt clears plan

 In a bid to improve employability of workers and boost job creation, the government has approved the country’s first integrated national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new policy would replace the National Skilling Policy, 2009 that was prepared by the earlier government and provided for a review after five years to align the policy framework with emerging trends.

“The policy aims to align supply with demand bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement,

operationalises a industry engagement, operationalises a quality assurance framework, leveraging technology and promoting apprenticeship to tackle the identified issues,” said finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday.

The policy would have four thrust areas, according to an official release. “It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers,” it said adding that it would also try to align demand and supply for skills by bridging existing skills gaps. “Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the Policy,” it added. In the entrepreneurship domain, the policy would educate and equip potential entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system. Noting that the Prime Minister had last week launched a programme on smart cities and also inaugurated the Digital India initiative on Wednesday, Jaitley said the government has also similar plans for ‘Skilling India’. The Cabinet also approved common norms for Skill Development Schemes being implemented by the Centre as well as an institutional framework for the National Skill Development Mission. This would help bring uniformity across the 70-odd skill development programmes (SDPs) being run by different government agencies. “This multiplicity of norms and parameters has created a diffusive effect of SDPs, which need to be streamlined in order to achieve the final outcomes envisaged,” said the release.

Source: The Indian Express (03rd July, 2015)

TISS to offer vocational training across 20 verticals

Known for its contribution to the social sciences sector , the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) is now making a big foray into vocational education.

According to the institute, the approach adopted is “work integrated training programme”, where students will learn skills by engaging in on-the-job training at industries or companies.

Accordingly, TISS’s School of Vocational Education will offer vocational training courses in 20 sectors or verticals in association with relevant training partners in 25 different cities across India from July.

In Mumbai, the institute is offering courses in industrial safety, HR and sales, healthcare,

dialysis technology, printing technology, BFSI and media and entertainment. The industry partners include Apex Kidney care, Maharashtra Mudran Parishad, Society for Social Empowerment & Training (SSET) and Karandikar Laboratories Pvt Ltd, among others.

“TISS has entered a new field in a big way. The school is offering Bachelor of Vocational Education (BVoc) and diploma or certificate courses. The students will be placed in different organisations, companies and hospitals for work experience,” said Prof Neela Dabir, deputy director at TISS and dean of the School of Vocational Education, adding that it did take a long time to convince        the industry and get them on board.

“Kidney failure rate is on the rise. We, however, do not have effective transplant programmes in our country, nor do we have enough paramedical institutes that can provide training. Simultaneously, there is a huge demand for dialysis technicians. Hence, we felt there is a lot of scope in collaborating with TISS and offering people good opportunities for employment,” said an official from Apex Kidney care.

Professor Dabir said that for effective delivery of this model, the institute is leveraging on the expertise of a partner, that will provide classroom-based training and will be known as a hub. Further, the execution partners, who will provide on-the- job training, will be known as the skill knowledge partners (SKPs) and could include hospitals or industries or companies.

“Hence, with the hub and spoke model, students will be placed in the SKPs for on-the

-job training while classroom theoretical training will be given by the hub partner,” added another official.

Source: The Indian Express (01st July, 2015)

Indian students flocking to Australia once again

 Australia is fast rebounding as a popular education destination for Indian students, as their enrolments during the first four months of this year jumped to over 48,000 as compared to nearly 37,000 during the same period last year. India continued to maintain second rank after China in supplying international students to Australia.

Enrolments in Vocational Education and Training sector (VET) from India in the first four months of 2015 jumped to over 18,350 this year, from 16,772 last year.

Of all the states, Victoria recorded the highest number of Indian students for higher education at over 11,000 enrolments, up from 7,611 last year. The Melbourne- based consul general of India, Monika Jain, said Victoria’s trade with India was very positive in education sector and Indian students market in the Australian state was really picking up.

“Victoria received the largest number of students from India followed by New South Wales (NSW),” Jain added. Many Australian states, including NSW and Victoria, have been working on strengthening their economic relationship with India by outlining ways to boost trade and investment, especially in the education sector.

In a bid to tap into the Indian students’ market, NSW Labour leader Luke Foley recently demanded opening doors to thousands of Indian students over coming years to Australia. “India is turning to the world to help them meet their aim of

up-skilling half-a-billion people,” he said, adding, “There is an opportunity for TAFE (Technical And Further Education) NSW to be part of it, providing training to hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of Indians.”

According to Intaj Khan, a private training college owner who also owns a school, a number of factors changed Indian enrolments, like easier student visa assessment levels, streamlined visa processing and relaxed employment of research organisations which revolutionised the economy. He also gave the example of Moscow State University which in the last four decades has produced 17 Nobel laureates.

He said that in the last 83 years, no research scholar from an Indian university has won the Nobel prize after C V Raman in 1930. Emphasising that there was no lack of talent, he stressed on the need for Indian universities to foster a culture of research and support innovations. “As many as four Indian scholars, including Amartya Sen, Har Gobind Khorana, who are products of Indian universities, have obtained the Nobel prize, working for foreign universities. They are inspiring students now. We have not been able to take a holistic approach to achieve success,” he said.

He also lauded the role of private educational institutions and acknowledged Pune’s role in it. Mukherjee said that innovative changes were necessary in the educational system, adding that in a few years, India would have the largest population in the working age bracket. “If our youth can be skilled, they will help drive India’s ascent among nations.” The president urged higher academic institutions in the country to engage with industries and urged industries to invest in education.

Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, chancellor of Bhartiya Vidyapeeth Patangrao Kadam, secretary Vishwajeet Kadam and vice chancellor Shivajirao Kadam were also present at the function. Source: The Indian shortage of skilled workers. We need bright immigrants from India to fill in. We require engineers, experts in the oil and gas industry and healthcare specialists like pediatricians”.

Glasgow pioneered the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme visa in 2006, she said, which enabled students from Scottish institutions to remain there for two years to work and gain further experience. The scheme ran from 2005 to 2008, when it was subsumed into the UK-wide Tier 1 (Post-study Work) visa. It was later abolished by the David Cameron-led coalition government that took over Westminster in 2010.

“We will start corrective negotiations with the UK government next month on re-introducing the post-study work visa. This is one thing that all political parties in the Scottish parliament universally agree upon. I will meet UK’s immigration minister James Brokenshire. I am confident that Westminster will understand Scotland’s needs. However if they refuse, we will have to look at re-introducing the Fresh Talent Working in Scotland Scheme visa,” Yousaf said.

This visa would be for Indian students to study in a Scottish university after which they can work only in Scotland, he added. The SNP has put together a 12 member group, including one representative from all major political parties in Scotland – SNP, Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats restrictions. Source: Pune Mirror (30 2015) June,

Express (26th June, 2015)

and the Green Party – and experts from

Scottish universities and members of the

President Pranab Mukherjee: Innovation a must in education system

President Pranab Mukherjee, who was in Pune to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Bhartiya Vidyapeeth, on Thursday said that education is the basic foundation for advancement of a nation, but none of the 700 universities and 3600 colleges in India has a place among the top 200 in the world university rankings. “Along with physical expansion, quality improvement is essential. Unless we emphasise on research, it is not possible to improve the quality of education. The world is changing fast and the only ingredient of this fast changing world is innovation and the outcome of research,” he said. Mukherjee cited examples of the German industrial revolution that had produced a large number He said that in the last 83 years, no research scholar from an Indian university has won the Nobel prize after C V Raman in 1930.

Scotland plans post-study work visas for Indians

 Scotland is working on plans to overrule the British parliament, if need be, to introduce a special visa that will allow Indian students to work for at least two years after they finish their education there.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is living up to its election promise of re-introducing the Tier 1 (Post-study Work) visa which was abolished by the UK government in April 2012. This had led to a 50% dip in Indian students visiting British universities for higher education.”Scotland needs immigration. It needs bright students from India to come and study in its 19 world class universities and then stay back and work to help develop its economy,” Scotland’s international development minister Humza Yousaf told TOI. “Scotland’s population is rapidly ageing and hence leading to an acute

industry to look at how the visa can best work in Scotland.

The number of new entrants to Scottish Higher Education Institutions from India fell by 63% between 2010-11 and 2013-14.

SNP strongly feels that the current four months given to international students at the end of their studies is insufficient time for most to find skilled employment and to transition to a Tier 2 visa.

With one in every three outbound higher education students across the globe expected to be from India and China by 2024, Scotland does not want to lose out on the revenue it can earn from foreign students.

Source: The Times of India (07th June, 2015)

US $6 Billion a Year to Study Abroad Shows How Talent is Not the Only Thing India Loses

Australia to help India meet skill development challenges

Australia today assured its support to India in

“We have also created international work opportunities for Australian undergraduate students through the Government’s signature initiative, the New Colombo Plan.

Ishan wants to pursue his education in the

meeting the country’s goal to upskill 500 million people by 2022, saying Australian

Source: Economic Times, (28

May, 2015)

United States. He stands in a queue at the US

Embassy to get his student visa for a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

After an hour-long wait and thorough document checks, he finally gets his visa to go study at the University of Washington.

“There are very few seats in good colleges in India. Foreign universities provide us options to choose from a variety of courses. They are more flexible as compared to Indian universities,” said Ishan.

Aditya Chaudry, Ishan’s Counsellor says, “Ishan was very clear that he wanted to study abroad. Foreign universities have a more holistic approach towards admissions. They do not judge you on the basis of academics alone. They take into account your research projects and internships as well.”

India sees the second highest number of students going to study in the United Kingdom; the largest being China. Over 19,500 students enrolled last year alone. According to US Embassy data, student visa applications from India to the United States increased as much as 60% last year, with approximately 90,000 students applying to various universities. Over 21,000 study permits were issued to Indian students in 2013 to study in Canadian Universities. About 24,000 Indian students have enrolled in Australian universities over the last one year. Latest figures from Forbes show that Indian students spend approximately $6 billion a year to study abroad.

Usha Albuquerque, Director, Careers Smart says, “Higher education is an investment, therefore parents are willing to spend money. So much money is going out of India in terms of usage. It is a huge indictment for our education system where students with 95% cannot get into a college of their choice.”

With more students applying for undergraduate courses abroad each year, India not only loses talent, but also highlights the problems in our education system.

training providers can help meet the skill development challenges. The assurance came during a meeting between Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajeev Pratap Rudy and Australian Assistant Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham.

“Today’s meeting has helped build our bilateral skills relationship with India so we can seize emerging opportunities in both our countries,” Birmingham said.

He said that international education is Australia’s “most successful services export, worth AUD 16.3 billion in 2013-14, and supporting around 130,000 jobs across Australia.”

“We are negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with India and piloting international training and assessment courses to upskill Indian trainers and assessors.”We are also working to sign a Free Trade Agreement with India by the end of this year, with particular opportunities for service industries,” Birmingham said.

In 2013-14, education related services with India made up AUD 1.5 billion of our services exports, Birmingham said. He said

the Australian government has developed internationally relevant training courses, benchmarked to an Australian standard. “These have the potential to be used so Australian training providers can help meet India’s skill challenges,” he said.

“India has a goal to upskill 500 million of its people by 2022, requiring an estimated 70,000 highly skilled trainers now and 20,000 additional trainers each year,” he said.

“To achieve this, India must address significant challenges, particularly in ensuring that training produces skills that are globally relevant, and that there is a sufficient supply of highly skilled trainers to deliver this,” he said. Birmingham said that Australia understands the importance of skills and training to “give people

opportunity, secure prosperity for both

Aberdeen first UK university to

open campus in South Korea

 The campus, which will be located in Hadong, in the south of the country, is scheduled to open in September 2016.

It will offer courses in energy-related disciplines, including MSc programmes in oil and gas topside engineering, subsea engineering, and petroleum engineering, plus an MBA in energy management.

An agreement has been signed to secure funding from South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Seth Kunin, Aberdeen’s vice-principal for internationalisation, said the new campus would also provide opportunities for Scotland-based students to learn overseas. “As part of its economic strategy the South Korean government is keen to develop its offshore industry, and it is a testament to the academic expertise that exists here that we were chosen as a partner in this project,” Professor Kunin added.

“The new campus will export our world-class educational offering to a new market in East Asia, but it will also open up huge opportunities in research thanks to the impressive facilities located there.”

Hee Bong Lee, commissioner of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone Authority, said the campus would become

“a centre of expertise in offshore engineering thanks to the strong curriculum on offer, and the university’s reputation for excellence in offshore teaching and research”. Source: Times Higher Education (15th May, 2015)

47% Parents of today felt it will be harder for their children’s generation to find a job after graduation than it was for their own.

Source: NDTV (30

May, 2015)

nations and will continue to work to build these opportunities.”

HSBC Report, 2015.

Interview with Mr. Amit Dasgupta – Former Ambassador, Diplomat, Author and now head of a Business School

What are some of the skills that a student can develop while studying in a foreign country?

It is a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures, including about religion, language, cuisine, culture. All of this adds to the stock of knowledge in the individual. He imbibes and appreciates how other cultures think and behave. When we are able to do this, our personalities get more rounded. This openness does not, however, mean that we abandon our values and traditions. Rather, what it means is being able to understand and even relate to the value systems of other cultures. It opens up our mind.

Why do you feel it is vital for a student to Study Abroad?

Amit joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1979 and superannuated from the Philippines in October 2013. He then took to full-time writing, which resulted in the publication of Lessons from Ruslana: In Search of Transformative Thinking in February this year. In March, he moved to Mumbai to join S P Jain School of Global Management as the head of the recently launched Mumbai Campus.

He has a B.Com degree from St. Xavier’s College Kolkata [Calcutta University], an MA and an MPhil in Sociology from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and a two-year attachment with the Department of Sociology at the University of McGill in Canada. He was the recipient of the National Merit Scholarship [1976

-79] and the Commonwealth Fellowship [1980-82] and has also attended an EDP at the Indian School of Business at Hyderabad.

During his diplomatic career, Amit served, inter alia, as Director Finance, Deputy Director General Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Joint Secretary Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of External Affairs. He was Director Economic and Head of the Office of the SAARC Secretary General, Deputy Ambassador in Berlin, Consul General in Sydney, and Ambassador in the Philippines with concurrent accreditation to the Republics of Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Micronesia.

I don’t think it is vital for a student to study abroad but I do believe that studying abroad impacts personality. It makes him open to other cultures and ways of seeing and behaving. This is very important because a rapidly globalizing world is also an increasingly multi-cultural one. If you take India, for instance, which is vast and hugely diverse, a student who has had exposure to different parts of India is more rounded than one who has grown up in a single city. Studying abroad is an extension of this. What it does is to expand the mind and make it more open and welcoming of other cultures.

According to you, does a student with an international education have an edge over the others who don’t?

In certain respects, yes. Studying abroad can be a differentiator but it is not a game changer. The quality of education is the game chamber and there are some outstanding educational institutions in India.

For students in developing and emerging countries like India, what are the avenues an international education can open up?

Globalization necessarily means that companies will be looking for young employees who are able to adjust to global companies. This requires a particular mind-set.

However, if the Foreign Education Bill is passed in India and foreign education providers are permitted to set up campuses in India, you are likely to see fewer students going abroad to study. Quality education would be found here. Let me say once again that while studying in a foreign university or studying abroad is a differentiator, it is NOT a game changer. To be a person in demand, you don’t need a foreign degree. You need to be professionally competent and you need to have an attitude that places you that many notches higher than your competitor. But let us also acknowledge that many Indian educational institutions can improve in quality through collaboration with foreign partner institutions. We are a young nation and it should be our collective endeavor to ensure that products from the Indian educational space are able to compete in a global environment and that they are second to none.

What are some of the upcoming study abroad destinations for students – both for short and long term study programs?

The US continues to remain the No. 1 destination. Australia is fast becoming the No. 2 destination. This is not just based on the quality of education but the ability to work after completing studies. Students want work experience and to earn money to pay back loans. Another emerging destination is Germany. But US, Australia, Canada, UK etc  have the advantage because they are English speaking nations.

Why more students should study abroad and the importance of bringing people together

By Sir Cyril Taylor, BE-Founder and Chairman of the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and Chancellor of Richmond, The American International University in London

There are nearly 7 billion people in our world today. Despite the vast increase in wealth in recent years there are still many areas of the world which suffer from religious and cultural conflicts. AIFS is playing an important part in creating international understanding. It is crucial that young people from different countries have the opportunity to learn about each other’s cultures, languages and lifestyles by studying or working abroad. The mission of AIFS is even more important today than it was fifty years ago when AIFS was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in September 1964.

We have had many letters of support from alumni. For example, Congressman Russ Carnahan, the Democratic congressman representing Missouri’s third district who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote:

“AIFS has a strong reputation of opening doors for students around the world, including myself. My time studying abroad in London at Richmond, The American International University in London, remains one of the most important foundations of my education. By getting to know people and their way of life overseas as a college student I became better prepared to serve in Congress, where diplomatic engagement is as important as ever. But the truth is the   experience can be valuable to all students. It is important that people have a better understanding of their neighbours around the world and the outstanding work of AIFS is making that a reality.”

Although now in my eighties, I still remain actively involved in the work of AIFS. I was delighted in 2015 to be able to celebrate the enrolment of

1.5 million students in the various AIFS programmes since we launched in Cincinnati in 1964. Our new alumni programme will bring many of those students together again. Over those five decades, I like to think we have done a lot to make the world a smaller place and helped to build a sense of understanding between young people from different countries who learn each other’s languages. That is also an important goal of Richmond, the American International University in London which awards both British and American degrees.

AIFS with its affiliated partners operates eight different programmes including study abroad programmes at 27 universities in 18 countries;

Au Pair in America; Camp America; Academic Year in America; Summer Institute for the Gifted, educational travel for high school students and we support Richmond, The American International University in London. If you wish to learn more about our services go to www.aifs.com

Podar Eduspace launches ‘Destination Nawalgarh’ Cultural Program

At Podar Eduspace, we have recently developed a new program, ‘Destination Nawalgarh’ in association with our charitable Trust, the Anandilal Podar Trust in Rajasthan which is a 93 year old Trust which had the privilege and honour of having Mahatma Gandhi as its first Chairman.

This program has been designed with the aim of giving students an opportunity to experience the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan and have a unique and enriching learning experience. As students immerse themselves into the culture and colours of Rajasthan, they can get a new perspective to life from this once in a lifetime experience. Interested students can enroll in this program all through the year and spend between 1-4 weeks in Nawalgarh (Rajasthan) and gain insight into various aspects of life in India.

This is an incredible learning opportunity not to be missed – Besides volunteering, Language Lessons and engaging with the local community, students will also have the opportunity to enrich their India experience by participating in fun-filled activities like Yoga, Folk Dancing, Rangoli Making, Turban and Sari Wearing and many more.

We look forward to welcoming many of them to India for this culturally stimulating experience in the near future! Duration: 1-4 Weeks

Age Eligibility: 18+ Years.

Our Education Initiatives

 Podar Skills:

Podar Skills is the skill development and vocational training arm of Anandilal Podar Trust which is over 90 years old. Podar Skills is establishing skill development centers where vocational courses are conducted. Our centers offer both government certified courses as well as advanced Podar Skills “proprietary” courses designed keeping in mind the needs of today’s dynamic job market. Podar Skills has trained nearly 12,000 students in their first year.

Books2Biz – Research Program:

This unique program aims to aggrandize the research skills of a student of a University/College and provide them with virtual work experience, while still being on Campus. Student researchers are given the opportunity to work online on projects by eminent corporates associated with us. To improve the quality of research work, each student researcher is guided by an expert mentor and is eligible to be awarded a certificate acknowledging their contribution and effort.

Job Able Program:

We have developed a Job Able Program (JAP) which comprises of 9 short modules that cover a wide range of areas that are of importance to employers. This is a novel concept which has been developed and written with the help of Industry and Education experts from Australia – DLS (Dynamic Learning Services) group which is an Australian Government certified body for Vocational Training. This program aims at young people all around the world who are looking to prepare themselves for full time employment and to ease their transition into the workplace.

Online2Onsite – Internship Program:

This program gives students the opportunity to do real onsite internships with leading corporate & government organizations associated with us globally, to prepare them for corporate challenges thus magnifying their career opportunities

Advisory Services:

We provide various services ranging from market feasibility study to market entry strategy. We also play a key role in acting as a representative of the University. Our services would include assisting in student recruitment, right partner search and tie-ups, negotiate best terms for collaboration / tie-ups, provide regular reports on market opportunities for University programs as well as advise on education policies, government approvals, cultural and/or business practices. A 360° solution to the institutes strategy of student recruitment, image building and establishing a Brand in India.