Students urged to choose reliable institutions

Students urged to choose reliable institutions

The importance of choosing reliable institutions with accredited courses was stressed by experts on the second and concluding day of The Hindu Education Plus International Education Fair on Saturday.
“Students have shown more interest in going abroad for higher education this year compared to last year. We are asking them to be careful in their choice of institutions,” said C. Vijayalakshmi, educational advising services associate, United States-India Educational Foundation. She said information about institutions in the United States was available at www.chea.org.
Ms. Vijayalakshmi said a number of professionals were applying this year for higher education apart from a large number of college students. After her session on the process of applying for higher studies to the United States, she said the students had the usual questions about the visa process, safety in the United States, and job opportunities.
There were also separate sessions on opportunities presented by officials from countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Holland and Germany.
First choice
Arun and his friends, studying in second year engineering, said they had come to understand the process before they started preparing for examinations such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). They indicated that United States and Canada were their first two choices but showed interest in the stalls put up by institutions from other countries too.
Sudha Sudeep, chief representative, Netherlands Business Support Office - Chennai, said the country had tremendous potential due to the number of top-ranked institutions in engineering, agriculture and other fields. As English was spoken widely in the Netherlands, language was not an issue, she said, adding there was increased interest in the country shown by students from India since the office was set up in Chennai last year.
Phillippa Colley, regional manager, Swiss Education Group, said many students had shown interest in the Hospitality postgraduate diploma course offered by the institute she represented. But, most students at the fair wanted to know about opportunities for engineering students in Switzerland.
Students and parents looking for undergraduate education abroad showed a preference for Singapore. Educational consultant Gigeo Sakkaryas said it was mainly because of the cheaper cost of study and the fact that parents were not ready to send their wards too far from home at an early age.
Asked about the recent developments in bringing foreign institutions to set up shop in India, Ms. Vijayalakshmi said that an important aspect of studying abroad was the interactions with a different culture. While domestic institutions would be forced to compete with foreign institutions, this would not affect students wishing to go abroad for higher education. The bank counter set up by State Bank of India also saw a healthy response. Officials said over 100 students indicated interest in availing of loans from the bank. An official said some students in Class XI had also approached the bank to understand the system and prepare themselves for starting their undergraduate education abroad.


Source Link: http://beta.thehindu.com/education/college-and-university/article425322.ece

55 foreign varsity stalls at 'The Hindu Education Plus fair'

55 foreign varsity stalls at 'The Hindu Education Plus fair'

The HinduEXPLORING OPTIONS: Students interact with Bryan Dalton (right), acting U.S. Consul-General at ‘The Hindu Education Plus International Education Fair 2010' in Chennai on Friday. Photo: R. Ravindran
Nearly 55 stalls put up by representatives of varsities across the globe, including those in the U,S., U.K., Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Dubai, Russia, Malaysia, Holland, the Philippines, Germany, France and Switzerland
Over 1,000 students, along with their friends and parents, thronged ‘The Hindu Education Plus International Education Fair 2010’ inaugurated here on Friday.
The two-day fair being held at the Taj Coromandel has nearly 55 stalls put up by representatives of universities across the globe, including those in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Dubai, Russia, Malaysia, Holland, the Philippines, Germany, France and Switzerland.
Welcoming participants, N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, said as a newspaper, The Hindu had been trying to focus on, among other things, the area of quality and relevant education. It was the newspaper's social responsibility to inform young people of the opportunities available, he said.
Pointing to a “major transformation” in southern India in regard to educational opportunities, he said the overall development was impressive, though with several gaps and a lopsided demand for engineering and engineering-plus education.
“There are also concerns about quality and unevenness of what is on offer, and there is a huge shortage of qualified faculty. So, there is a lot of work to be done here,” Mr. Ram said.
Pointing to changing trends in the era of globalisation, he said: “In the old days, nationalism meant that you wanted your young people to stay home and barriers were erected to people going abroad to study, but that has changed now.”
Bryan Dalton, acting Consul-General, U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai, said such fairs were crucial to help students understand the options and “find the best fit”.
Pointing to an increased emphasis on international education and reasons to value it, he said U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made cooperation in education and development one of the five pillars of newly defined U.S.-India strategic partnership.
Apart from stalls put up by universities and education consultants, the venue also has State Bank of India's stall to exclusively focus on student loan options.
Day two of the fair will also feature a series of workshops. A seminar on U.S. student visas and education counselling will be held from 10.45 a.m. to noon, while a session on Canada will be from noon to 12.45 p.m.
A seminar on education opportunities in the U.K. will be held from 2 p.m. to 2.45 p.m. and one focussing on education opportunities in Holland will be held from 3 p.m. to 3.45. p.m.
Sessions on education in Singapore and Germany will be held at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. The fair will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.


Source Link: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/Chennai/article424361.ece