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August 2008 | |
 Welcome to the India Partnership newsletter! |
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In this newsletter we bring you the new promotional initiatives and the top new stories about the happenings within the education market in India.
We hope that you enjoy reading this newsletter as much as we do putting it together for you. |
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 News for you |
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1) India Partnership Meeting The India Partnership meet will be held in London on Friday, 5 September 2008. 2) India Exhibition November 2008 Education UK Exhibition India in November 2008 is still open for recruitment. You can find more details about the exhibition and apply online at http://www.britishcouncil.org/eumd-exhibitions-india-2008-november.htm 3) Knowledge Based Seminars Knowledge Based Seminars are being organised in India for UK institutions.These missions will visit the cities of Delhi and Chennai. They will focus on Business & Management in Delhi and Biotechnology in Chennai. Please click on the links below to access the details a) Knowledge Based Seminar concept note
There are showcasing opportunities on the Education UK India website for promoting specific activities of your institution in India through the advertorial content. Click here to download the details for the same. |
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 Education Policy and Norms |
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01) Cambridge exam scores will be adequate for pre-med test: Medical Council of India In a move that is in favour of thousands of students pursuing their International General Certificate of Secondary Education, the Medical Council of India has declared that their AS level exam is as good as the class XII examination conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education. This means that students from this board wanting to pursue medicine in India will be allowed to do so on the basis of their AS (Advanced Subsidiary) English level exam scores. Previously, aspiring medical students were forced to take the CBSE or a state board class XII exam to appear for the pre-medical entrance test. The decision to treat this exam on par with the Indian class XII exam was taken by the MCI's executive council and communicated to the Cambridge International Examinations regional office recently. About 170 schools in the country, with a total student population of about 15,000, are affiliated to this board. 02) South Asian University to offer option of taking science and artscourses side by side The ambitious South Asian University (SAU), expected to start functioning in New Delhi by 2010, will be going in for a "cafeteria approach" where students can opt for science and humanities courses side by side. The common university of the regional grouping, to be set up on the lines of American Ivy League universities, will also induct students and recruit faculty from across the globe so that it is not confined to "narrow distinctive barriers". The proposal for SAU was made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the SAARC Summit in Dhaka in December 2005 and later ratified by the eight member nations. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee laid its foundation at a 100-acre plot in Maidan Garhi, Mehrauli in South Delhi. The campus construction is due to start early next year. 03) Foreign varsities yearning for a base in India International Universities are increasingly setting up campuses in India. Some have already begun offering courses, mostly in management. However, others are waiting for the Foreign Education Bill, which has been pending in Parliament for the past two years. The Bill, if passed, will allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) by universities. Till then, they can only offer exchange programmes with Indian partners. Stanford University, British Columbia University, McGill University, Simon Fraser University, Cubec University, and Montreal University are some of the other international universities awaiting the government's nod to set up campuses in India. Forty international universities have sought land from the Maharashtra government in the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik belt to set up campuses in India. The investments lined up by these institutions are substantial. Others like the Singapore-based Raffles Education Group have already set up a centre in Hyderabad, offering The Nottingham Trent University of UK's MBA programme. Raffles also lends its expertise to Emaar Education, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emaar Properties PJSC. 04) College entry rule altered for students from foreign education boards Students passing Class XII from foreign education boards will be able to seek direct admission to colleges affiliated to Calcutta University from this year. The decision was taken by the university's equivalence committee after noting the increase in the number of applicants from foreign boards. Earlier, students from foreign boards needed to first apply to the university to study an undergraduate course in an affiliated college. They could seek admission in a college only after obtaining a clearance from the equivalence committee. Colleges will be able to directly admit students from foreign boards recognised by the Association for Indian Universities. The Cambridge School Board and the American International School are two of the recognised boards. 05) Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) to police fraudulent education agents The Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) is looking into and scrutinizing the functioning of fraudulent fly-by-night agencies which dupe Indian students with promises of visas and admissions into colleges overseas. The ministry is now trying to help some of the students who have become victims of such unscrupulous agencies including 100 Indian students who are enrolled at an institution called American School of Aviation in Atwater, California. The modus operandi in most cases is that the agencies, which are often run by Indians based overseas, put up large advertisements in Indian media and entice young Indian students with promises of visas and admissions into various courses overseas including pilot training and nursing courses. |
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 Competitors Update |
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01) Foreign students flock to the US - Surge in overseas applicants driven by weak dollar The faltering US dollar, which has steadily lost value against major currencies around the world, has produced a silver lining for foreign students, and the American universities that recruit them. With every dip in the exchange rate, the cost of college for many foreign students has dropped in kind. This has contributed to a surge in demand for Boston-area colleges and universities. Widely considered the worldwide gold standard for higher education, American universities have suddenly emerged as a bargain for a growing number of international students, whose yen, rupees, and pounds go much further than they used to. The influx is expected to reverse the declines in foreign student enrollment that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Many colleges in Massachusetts and across the country report sharp increases in applications and acceptances from international students for the coming school year, especially from India, China, and European countries. 02) India, US sign education exchange program pact Ties between India and the United States took another step forward with the governments of the two countries inking an agreement to finance certain educational exchange programs. The agreement was signed by Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and U.S. Ambassador to India David C Mulford, giving a further boost to the strengthening of educational exchanges between India and the United States. The agreement supersedes the Fulbright Agreement revised in 1963 (after it was first signed in 1950 between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then US Ambassador to India Loy Henderson). Under the new agreement, the governments of India and the United States shall henceforth implement the scholarship programme as full partners and increase by 100 percent the total scholarship amount awarded annually - to five million U.S. dollars. At present about 100 Indian students/ researchers visit the United States from India and a 100 US awardees visit India each year under the Fulbright Programme. Under the agreement signed today, these numbers would approximately double. 03) UND Aerospace to Train More Than 200 Pilots from India UND Aerospace at the University of North Dakota (UND), announced a three-year agreement with Bharati Vidyapeeth University (BVU) in Pune, India to provide a one-year pilot training program for the BVU Aviation program. Over the three-year period, UND Aerospace will educate more than 200 students in Lumberton, North Carolina at their facility with Roberson Community College. Students will earn a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Commercial Instrument rating and incorporate the pilot training into their BVU Aviation degree. The UND-BVU agreement foresees growth to a minimum of 80 students per year. |
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 Market Trends |
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01) Indian Government plans Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has announced plans for setting up an Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) near Delhi. The new institution, coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 211 crore, is envisaged as a partnership project with IIT Kharagpur. The new institution will function as a think tank for the ministry of corporate affairs. It will have five centres including centre for knowledge investors, education centre and professional development centre. IICA board will consist of 10 - 15 government nominees and the rest will be from professional institutes and corporate houses. 02) Inaugural IIM-C PGPEX-VLM programme nears completion; participants to visit Japan IIM Calcutta, in collaboration with IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras had launched a unique Joint IIM-IIT One Year Post Graduate Programme for Executives for Visionary Leadership in Manufacturing (PGPEX-VLM) in August 2007. The Programme draws support from the Government of Japan by way of deputation of Japanese faculty and industry experts. The one-year Post Graduate Programme for Executives for Visionary Leadership (PGPEX-VLM), conducted by Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C), is nearing its successful completion. Participants are getting ready for the international study visit early July where they visit facilities of Japan Honda Saitama Factory, Kao logistics center, Hino Motors, Sharp, Yao factory, Patlite, Kasai Recycling Systems, Toyota, Panasonic House of History, Panasonic HRD College, and Toyota commemorative museum of industry and technology. 03) Booming Indian Hotel Industry Faces Manpower Shortage India's hospitality industry is booming. Hundreds of hotels are expected to open in the next few years. Major U.S.-based international brands, such as Hilton and Marriott, have announced plans to invest in India. But recruitment may be a problem as the industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled manpower. The Indian travel and tourism sector is currently a $100 billion industry. The World Travel and Tourism Council says that over the next decade the size of the industry will nearly triple. Business visitors and tourists to India are surprised to frequently find no room at the inn. And when there are vacancies, the rates at the better hotels rival or exceed those found in New York, London or Tokyo. That is because there is typically a demand nationwide for nearly a quarter of a million rooms, far beyond the 90,000 currently available. Staffing those hotels is a constant challenge for hoteliers. India's government-run and private sector hotel management institutes train more than 10,000 students each year. But the supply can hardly keep pace with the demand. Industry analysts estimate that by 2012, just the premium slice of the hospitality industry in India will require more than 50,000 trained employees. For more information click here 04) Polycom eyes growth via learning tie-ups US-based company Polycom has tied up with various State-sponsored tele-education initiatives in India. Tele-education has been gaining momentum worldwide and it is only a matter of time when India will opt for it in a big way. The billion-dollar company is looking to reach out to small and medium businesses with its range of video and audio customer premise equipment. The e-learning market in India is estimated to be about $3 million, with a growth of 17-18 per cent annually. In this scenario 'virtual classrooms' will provide the answer to the paucity of trained teachers in India. According to financial services major Credit Suisse, the country has about six million qualified teachers for a targeted education market of 460 million people aged between 5 and 24 years. This means a teacher to student ratio of 1:75, way below the international average of 1:20. 05) Entrepreneurs looking to tap pvt education space India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world, with nearly 16,000 colleges and five lakh teachers. Yet, 30% of those seeking higher education are enrolling into private institutes with no government grant. It's this big opportunity in the private education space that many entrepreneurs are now looking at tapping. The market is growing at over 50% annually, a market that is only getting bigger with approximately 20 million new recruits added to the workforce every year. 06) Indian students opting for new career choices, modules in foreign varsities New patterns are emerging in the higher education choices of Indian students seeking admission to universities abroad, even as the volume of student traffic from India to Europe, America and Australia races northward. A growing interest has been observed in transfer admissions and undergraduate studies abroad. There is also a gradual shift from traditional courses to technology-driven and career-oriented modules. A transfer study programme is an academic module that transfers credit from a four-year degree-granting academic institution not affiliated to a university in the US. Students now want to keep their options open so as to switch from one field to another. Students were choosing more inter-disciplinary programmes and experimenting with diverse subjects. Indian students apply to a range of schools and colleges in different states of the US. Their choice of school not only depends on the field and level of study that the institution offers but also several other factors. As per a USEFI spokesperson, for the past several years, California, New York, Washington, Texas, Massachusetts and Florida are among the leading states that Indian students are opting for. 07) E-learning is the need of the hour in India E-learning is the need of the hour in India. More than 50% of India's population is under 25 yrs of age. With universities introducing online distance-learning programs, e-learning is the latest boom in India. Three years back there were hardly any online programs offered compared to the numerous e-learning initiatives that have been floated today. Even professional bodies like ICSI (Institute of Company Secretaries of India) have started offering online programs. Online education/training has proved to be successful in areas like pre-recruitment training for Insurance Agents, Certified Financial Planners, MBA programs etc. E-learning enables the distribution of quality education easier, faster, in a more convenient manner and facilitates content customization at the same time. The Indian e-learning market is still at a nascent stage and is far behind when compared to those in developed nations. There is an acute need for e-learning solutions at all levels, be it at schools, colleges, universities or corporate houses. India is ready for e-learning, with its young, tech-savvy population. However, Internet penetration leaves much to be desired. We must quickly lay down standards/policies, release frequencies for the latest technologies. |
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 Opportunities for India Partnership Members |
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Promotional Visits: |
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