The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Quality checks for British varsities to woo Indian students

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 13, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Quality checks for British varsities to woo Indian students

By Our Staff Reporter

The British High Commissioner to India, Sir Michael Arthur (centre), addressing presspersons at Tiruvallur on Tuesday. Looking on (from left) are R. Parasuraman, Deputy Chairman, CII-SR, and Stuart Innes, British Deputy High Commissioner, South India . — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, OCT. 12. Keen on encouraging more Indian students to study in the United Kingdom, the British Government is initiating several measures, including quality checks on educational institutions to which they apply.

Stating this, Sir Michael Arthur, British High Commissioner to India, today said the checks were to help them get admission to only genuine institutions. Such checks were necessary as there had been instances of lesser-known institutions duping foreign students.

The process of verifying the claims of the institutions would help the High Commission and its offices in the country to warn Indian students when they seek visa, he said during a media interaction organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Southern Region, at Novar India Limited's manufacturing plant at Kuthambakkam, Tiruvallur.

Expressing hope that 15,000 students from India would go to Britain this year, he said their number was 11,000 last year and 5,000 five years ago and it would increase to 25,000 in the next three years. Noting that Britain lost one generation of Indian students, who went to the United States, he said making the procedure of obtaining visa hassle-free, permitting them to work up to 20 hours a week and stay on a few months after their course were some of the other initiatives.

Road shows

Apart from creating awareness about the educational facilities, the High Commission also facilitated education road shows by British universities. Representatives of 30 reputed universities would be visiting south India shortly. On the backlash in the UK against outsourcing by IT (information technology) units, Sir Michael said the British Government was seized of the commercial considerations of the industry to outsource and supported its decision.

The labour unions were bound to oppose outsourcing, but for the units it was necessary in the competitive environment. Notwithstanding the trend, Britain boasted of a ``very big call centre industry.''

The National Health Services had recently started recruiting skilled nurses from India, Sir Michael said, pointing out that Indo-British economic relationship was getting into a new mode with emphasis on looking beyond the traditional industries. The first meeting of the Joint Economic Trade Commission, of the two nations, scheduled for January, would strengthen the relationship. The bilateral trade, he said, was growing at 30 per cent this year and Britain was a gateway for Indian entrepreneurs to penetrate the European Union.

While R. Parasuraman, the CII-SR Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Novar India, highlighted the significance of Indo-British trade partnership, Stuart Innes, British Deputy High Commissioner, south India, said the relationship was mutually beneficial.

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