The preliminary round of discussion was held at Vikasa Soudha on Wednesday, March 16, with regard to extending the internationalisation of education for degree, post-graduation and engineering courses, the facility which, at present, is made available for diploma courses. It was discussed in the meeting to introduce Twinning Degree programmes for the above courses.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Ashwathnarayan CN, Karnataka Minister for Higher Education, said, "At present MoU with Montgomery County Community College of Pennsylvania has been implemented. The same needs to be extended for other courses which will be in accordance with the internationalisation of education."
Responding to the minister's proposal, Kannika Choudhari, HE Envoy, Pennsylvania, USA, suggested entering into MoUs with Athens State University, York College (Pennsylvania), Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Indiana University (Pennsylvania), Husson University, Thiel College, Alvernia University and Misericordia University to achieve the desired objectives.
"The students taking up these courses will be sent to American universities in specific years of their studies and paid internships will be part of these courses. This also enables students to get employed in the USA after completion of their course, if they desire," Ashwathnarayan said as per a report in ANI.
Once the MoUs come into effect, the students can have a Twinning Degree of six years, Integrated Post-Graduation of five years, Twinning Post-Graduation of four years, MS Nursing (Integrated) and MS Biochemistry (Integrated), the minister stated. He further said, "There are huge opportunities for those who have pursued graduation in Nursing and Health Administration. To make the most of this, the officials have been instructed to draw up the modalities on introducing such courses."
These MoUs will facilitate opportunities to pursue higher education with global standards. The expenses of selected students from SC/ST and other backward communities will be completely borne by the government. If needed, educational loans from banks will also be made available, he said.
P Pradeep, Commissioner, DCTE (Department of Collegiate and Technical Education) and Prof Lingaraju Gandhi, Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru City University were present. Bengaluru City University and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, USA exchanged letters of intent on Wednesday, March 16, which would allow for English learning and pursuing an integrated course in Computer Science.
Lingaraja Gandhi, Vice-Chancellor, Bengaluru City University and Kannika Choudhary, HE Envoy, Pennsylvania, USA, exchanged the letter of intent and related documents.
After implementing the MoU, students of Karnataka can be benefitted from the English learning programmes of Harrisburg University and further, can become a part of the American academic activities.
