::IMC::

Canadian Colleges Scout for Tie-up with Indian Institutions, Invite Indian students
Date: 5-Feb-2010

A seven-member delegation of Canadian educational institutions interacted with Trustees, Directors, Principals, professors and students of leading colleges and educational institutes here yesterday. They were looking for forging partnerships with Indian educational institutions and also for attracting Indian students to pursue studies in Canada.

The meeting, which was organized by Indian Merchants’ Chamber, discussed "Emerging Opportunities for Cooperation In Education sector between Indian & Canadian colleges / Universities"

The delegation was headed by Mr Husain F Neemuchwala of the International Centre for Education ( ICE); Ms Catherine Cameron, Pickering College, Ontario; Dr Mussabir Chowdhury, Assiniboine Community College, Manitoba; Ms Charlotte Bond, Quest University, British Columbia; Ms Mary Sasso, State University of New York, Fredonia; and Mr Anuraj Bajwa, Sheridan College, Ontario.

IMC’s former president Mr M N Chaini welcomed and felicitated the delegation leaders. The IMC’s education committee chairperson, Dr. Rupa Shah introduced the theme.

Mr Chaini said that Mr Neemuchwala was the chairman of the Canada-India Business Council’s education committee. "In 2008, Mr Neemuchwala was instrumental in bringing more than 50 delegations of Canadian educational institutions to India," he said.

Dr Rupa Shah said that prospects for partnership between Canadian and Indian institutions were bright, as it would be beneficial to both partners and also to the vast student community in the globalized world.

"Many such global partnerships were already in operation in India. I head an institution called Russel College in Mumbai, which conducts degree/ diploma and certificate courses in the Mumbai campus for London School of Economics," she said.

Mr Anuraj Bajwa said that Sheridan College in Ontario was funded by the State and served a 15,000-strong student community, of which about 7% were from overseas, including India. This college was prepared to work out some 1+2 or 2+1 courses jointly with willing Indian institutions, "while sharing resources and curriculum, and dividing ownership between us at every level."

"Our college offers world famous programs, state-of-the-art facilities for featuring the latest computers and technology and has active links with some of the world’s top universities. A survey on key performance indicators shows 90% graduate employment rate with nearly a third of all programs showing 100% employment," he said.

He said Sheridan’s diplomas, degrees and postgraduate certificate studies were being offered through four distinct academic schools within the institution. Students chose the type of study, length of study, campus, and in some cases whether they would like a program with a co-op component to it.

Over 100 programs were offered through the following academic schools:* Animation, arts & design * Applied computing & engineering sciences * Business * Community & liberal studies. The college has an in-house International Admissions Team which processed the applications efficiently. ( For details access: www.studyatsheridan.ca. )

Dr Mussabir Chowdhury said Assiniboine Community College was engaged in research, innovation, research in agri-businesses, wind energy, etc., which were all focussed on sustainability. "Our colleges focus is on hands-on subjects. "We are open to partnerships with Indian colleges for offering specially designed and blended programmes, through satellite communication.

"We develop curriculum in subjects such as engineering, agri-business, technology etc and license the partnering institution to conduct the courses. Internationalization is our aim, "he added.

Assiniboine college enterprise is coming up with an International Summer Institute (ISI) offering a post-secondary learning experience in Canada for overseas students. "There are six programmes including Tourism, Culinary Arts, Healing Power of Energy, Golf, Flight Training, and Film Documentary," he added.

Ms Catherine Cameron said that Pickering College was a boarding school with over 400 students, of whom about 100 lived in the campus. The college focussed on building leadership skills, environment consciousness and social responsibility and conducted Secondary Board exams preparatory to joining colleges.

Ms Charlotte Bond said the Quest University ( www.questu.ca), set up in 2007, imparted undergraduate and bachelors courses in science, which included a foundation programme in natural and social sciences with subjects like AIDS, global warming, and leadership .

"Ours is a new kind of university, with small seminar classes, individualized majors, and offers ‘one course at a time’ on the block plan, field studies & internships, and Bachelor degree in Arts and Sciences. We have a strong international focus, with about 25% of overseas students," she said.

The focus of its courses, during the first year, was in studies on * Democracy & Justice, * Earth, Oceans and Space * Political Economy * World religions * Molecular Biology * History of Mathematics * Ecology * Fate & Virtue.

Arvind Pradhan
Director General