The Hindu Business Line : Good response to Indo-UK `twinning' study courses

A GROWING number of students are opting for an UK qualification. Besides direct admissions to the universities there, over 50 institutions in the country have tied up for twinning programmes, with institutions in the UK.

About 17,000 Indian students went to the UK last year, which is the second most popular destination after the US. Mr Kartar Singh, Deputy Director, South India, British Council, said that the market is growing between 10 and 15 per cent each year.

The twinning programmes have proved to be a boon. Mr Singh said that it is now necessary to give students a choice of learning opportunities, locations as not all students will want to or be able to afford education abroad. The twinning programmes are filling this niche in the market, catering to students who want to acquire UK qualification in India, delivered through a partnership.

He said that options were now available to do the entire course locally or part of the course in both the countries.

The UK courses focus on learning and knowledge acquisition, students benefit from the content and methodology - pedagogy being adopted. They also improve their communication skills giving them an edge in the contemporary job market, Mr Singh said.

One of the problems faced by students in these programmes is that in some cases the Indian semester is not up to the mark. Mr Ashwin Philip, an Indian student in London, said that the semester in India was not on par with the one in UK. The method of teaching and research is so different that Indian students have to relearn a lot of concepts.

Mr Singh said that the acceptability of the qualifications varies. The private sector is a major recruiter of students as it is now looking for those who have the necessary social, communication and technical skills to take on challenging assignments in a globalised economy. A UK qualification is also highly sought after in other countries as well, he said.

The question often asked is whether studying in the UK is expensive. Mr Singh said that most UK postgraduate qualification is for a year, which means students can get into the job market sooner than in the US masters programme, which is for two years. The students also save on living expenses and it is now legally acceptable for a student to work up to 18 hours per week, which would help defray local expenses.

He said that Scotland recently announced an initiative called Fresh Talent, which enables students studying in Scottish Universities to stay back and work in the country for a few years.

There are about 300 scholarships being offered by various UK agencies for students. The UK Government has also announced a new initiative called the UK India Education and Research Scheme with a budget of £10 million to enable greater staff and student exchanges, and for research in science, technology and the social sciences. In addition, many UK institutions offer full or partial scholarships.

Mr Singh said that the big demand is for courses in management and business studies (mainly the MBA) followed by

engineering, mainly Information Technology related programmes. The area of Life Sciences is also showing promise with the major breakthrough in life science research, where UK is considered a leader, he added.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page