The Hindu : Karnataka News : Australian body plans Bangalore centre

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 24, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Australian body plans Bangalore centre

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, AUG. 23. With a view to providing Indian students a better opportunity to study in Australia, IDP Education Australia, a non-profit organisation owned by Australian universities to promote them as a study destination, plans to establish `IDP Learning Centres' in various cities in the country.

These centres would be set up in 22 cities in the next one year and would offer short preparatory courses to students who want to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examination, Henry A.S. Ledlie, Director (India), IDP Education Australia, told presspersons here on Monday. ELTS is a globally recognised test of English language proficiency, which is in great demand and is mandatory for Indians who apply for a student visa to Australia. It is also recognised in Britain, the U.S., and Canada.

Mr. Ledlie said that the content for these courses was being provided by the Australian Centre for Languages (ACL), and the Indian partner to promote the venture is Planet EDU, an educational services company.

"We already have learning centres in Delhi and Chandigarh and propose to set up one in Bangalore in two months. The Ahmedabad and Mumbai centres are also in the pipeline," he said. He said that though IDP centres would initially offer preparatory courses, they would subsequently facilitate transnational or distance education study programmes, in collaboration with Australian colleges and schools. These programmes would be a combination of Internet-based learning, study material, and contact classes.

Students' number

There were a large number of Indian students who were applying for courses in Australian universities and IDP research showed that this number would grow to 75,000 students by 2025.

The IDP Education Australia held interview sessions here on Monday for students who want to apply for study programmes in Australian universities. Around 250 students who were pre-screened by IDP were invited to interact with representatives from the universities and get answers to questions on studying in Australia.

As many as 35 institutions from Australia were represented at the session. The most sought after courses were management-related courses, information technology, biotechnology, media and communications, and engineering, Meera Gopal, manager, IDP Education Australia, said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka