With Australian academia having impacted universities and institutions of higher education Down Under as serious study destinations for Indian students, its traditional rival in the antipodes New Zealand seems to have discovered the student mining potential of the subcontinent. Suddenly varsity delegations from NZ and education consultancy firms representing them have been galvanised into action.

Quite evidently institutions of higher education from this picturesque nation (pop. four million) whose rugged landscape and natural beauty has been imprinted upon the global consciousness by the Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy and numerous Bollywood potboilers, are serious about attracting students from India. Because the latest education delegation from NZ representing six universities and five technical institutes which made a whirlwind tour of Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai in mid-April, was led by the Rt. Hon. Trevor Mallard, a veteran leader of New Zealand’s ruling Labour party and minister for education, public services and sport who is also deputy finance minister in the coalition government of prime minister Dr. Helen Clark.

“Perhaps it’s not well-known in India that New Zealand has established several globally reputed institutions of higher education which offer excellent study programmes in biotechnology, agriculture, medicine and genetics, especially at the advanced postgraduate level,” says Mallard. Mallard’s ministerial mission was laid down as: “The government of New Zealand is particularly interested in encouraging Indian postgraduate research students in these fields of study to enroll in our universities and help us develop our intellectual capability. In Delhi I had useful discussions with (Union minister of human resource development) Mr. Arjun Singh regarding the exchange of research students and faculty between our two countries which share many commonalities including cricket, the English language and a British heritage.” 

According to Mallard, currently there are an estimated 2,500 students from India in institutions of learning in NZ with the number likely to grow as universities and technical institutes in that country become familiar with the Indian education system and establish linkages with “40-50 high quality institutions of higher education in India”.

Looking ahead, Mallard is quite confident that as academic and scholastic exchange between India and New Zealand (which spends a massive 6.5 percent of its GDP on education) intensifies, there will be greater appreciation within the subcontinent of hitherto unfamiliar universities, technical and technology institutes Down Under. “Contrary to popular belief we offer high quality liberal and creative arts education as well, especially in the fields of film and multi-media technology. Our government policy mandates that all faculty positions be advertised world-wide to attract the best teachers. As a result over 50 percent of faculty in institutions of higher learning are professionals from abroad with proven research and teaching capability. That’s the distinguishing characteristic of New Zealand’s higher education,” says Mallard.

Not to forget cricket, English and picture postcard landscapes besides.

Dilip Thakore (Bangalore)

Differential film-maker

Little terrorist, India’s sole entry for Hollywood’s Oscar awards this year was directed by 32-year-old Delhi-based film-maker Ashwin Kumar. Although the 15-minute short film didn’t bag an Oscar, it received rich encomiums in several international film festivals including the Montreal and Tehran festivals apart from being India’s only Oscar entry (after beating five other films) in the short films category.

“I’m still in a daze about receiving the Oscar nomination,” says Kumar who has just returned from the US after rubbing shoulders with Hollywood high fliers at the 77th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Son of Delhi’s haute fashion diva Ritu Kumar, Ashwin is an alumnus of the Doon School and London University’s School of Media and Communications. Little Terrorist was preceded by The Road To Ladakh (2001) a 50-minute romantic saga set against the spectacular backdrop of Jammu & Kashmir’s Ladakh district. This film also won critical acclaim and the Critics Award at the Cairo Film Festival.

Little Terrorist, Kumar’s second film which explores the nuances of a relationship between an orthodox Hindu brahmin girl and a Muslim boy, splices the twin themes of peace and humanity against the undercurrent of hostile Indo-Pak relations. Despite its unambiguous political overtones, the film underscores the unity of the human spirit. Produced on a modest £15,000 (Rs.12.3 lakh) budget, Kumar cobbled together the film’s cast and crew through advertising on the internet, urging people to come forward with ideas.

Shot on location in Rajasthan in 2003, with a heterogeneous 50-plus American/ European/ Indian crew with Ritu Kumar pitching in to design costumes, the star of the show is 13-year-old Salim, an orphan from the Salaam Baalak Trust and a class VII student at the Rajakiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Paharganj, Delhi.

Unsurprisingly Kumar who describes himself as a serious film-maker draws his inspiration from abroad rather than from Bollywood. Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kirustani is a favourite, as is Chinese director Wongkar Wai. “In India Satyajit Ray is the only point of reference for me,” says Kumar.

Right now he is working on two mega projects his first full-length feature film The Forest and a longer version of The Road To Ladakh. “The Forest is a thriller set in the jungles of India around the theme of environmental conservation,” says Kumar.

Gifted with talent, discrimination and youth, Kumar seems likely to hit the big time in the emerging global market for quality cinema.

Neeta Lal (Delhi)

Irish education chief

Riding on a wave of national euphoria after Eire or the Republic of Ireland, for the first time ever surpassed imperial Great Britain in terms of per capita income ($36,360 cf. $26,150) as per UNDP’s Human Development Report 2004, institutions of higher education in Ireland (pop. 4 million) are beginning to seriously compete for students, particularly research scholars, with their US and British counterparts. Last month (April) a 13-member institutional delegation from the island republic made a whistle-stop tour of five Indian cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore) to showcase their enviably green campuses and world-beating study programmes.

“Ireland offers high quality, globally recognised undergraduate and postgraduate education characterised by carefully crafted hands-on syllabuses. A safe country of friendly, English-speaking people, Ireland is an ideal cost-effective destination for Indian students. We want to establish durable business links with China and India and we believe the best way to do this is by building education bridges with these countries,” says John Lynch, chief executive of the country’s International Education Board aka Education Ireland. A philosophy and theology graduate of Gregorian University, Rome he began his career as a theology teacher in the Philippines before signing up with Eire’s Higher Education for Development of Cooperation (HEDCO) to establish and administer schools and community colleges in east and south Africa. In 1992 when Education Ireland was constituted, the government invited Lynch to head it.

According to Lynch, currently there are about 700 Indian students in Ireland and nearly 70 percent of them are enrolled in postgraduate study programmes in the areas of ICT (information communication, technology), business administration and hospitality management. “Besides undergraduate and postgrad education, our institutions of higher learning offer many structured government-funded research opportunities. The Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has allocated a budget of 646 million (Rs.3,294 crore) for academic research in ICT and biotechnology for the period 2000-2006,” says Lynch.

Buoyed by the success of its ICT and biotech industries in particular, Eire is keen to market its proven institutions of higher education. Therefore Education Ireland is scouting for suitable partners in India to establish twinning arrangements with indigenous colleges, universities and technology institutes. “We have already entered into 40 twinning agreements with institutions in China and would like to replicate this experience in India. But there are government restrictions relating to recognition of our degrees in India. Our government is representing our case in Delhi and we are hopeful that these issues will be sorted out soon,” says Lynch.

Given Eire’s dramatic economic miracle of the past decade, quite obviously Irish education can deliver the goods. Therefore it’s likely that the Emerald Isle will attract a growing number of students from the subcontinent.

Srinidhi Raghavendra (Bangalore)

Also read: Education in Ireland back with its 5-city education fair

Leadership education leader

An early year (February) visitor to India was Pamela Brooks Gann, president of the Claremont McKenna College (CMC), a private institution of higher education based in Claremont, California. Brooks Gann was on an exploratory mission looking for opportunities to build relationships with students and the education community in India. “Asia and particularly India are major interest areas for us. We have been hiring faculty as well as welcoming more students from the continent during the past few years, particularly from south and east Asia. Currently international students form nine percent of our enrollment which we would like to raise to 15 percent. In particular we would love to see more high calibre students from India,” she says.

A mathematics graduate of North Carolina University, Gann switched tracks to graduate from the Duke University School of Law. She practiced law in Atlanta and Charlotte before returning to Duke in 1975 where she developed an international reputation as an expert on taxation, international trade and cross-border business transactions. In Duke she rose to the position of dean in 1988 and served there for eleven years, before taking charge of CMC as president in 1999.

Established in 1946, CMC is a highly selective, co-educational, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college with a strong focus on economics, government and public affairs education. “Unlike most institutions which champion either the traditional liberal arts or acquisition of professional and technical skills, CMC builds bridges between these two genres. By combining the intellectual breadth of the liberal arts with the pragmatic concerns of public affairs, we help students acquire the vision, skills and values necessary to assume leadership roles in government,” explains Gann. With ten on-campus research institutes, CMC offers its 1,066 students and faculty excellent opportunities to merge research, teaching and learning.

Fully persuaded that the development of national economies requires academic focus on issues of governance and government leadership, Gann believes that CMC offers a balanced mix of liberal arts, commerce and governance education to its students. “Our objective is to educate students for productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government and the professions and to support faculty and student scholarship that contributes to intellectual vitality and the understanding of public policy issues,” says Gann.

Perhaps the college’s motto sums it up best crescit cum commercio civitas- civilisation prospers with commerce.

Gaver Chatterjee (Mumbai)

Civic awareness teacher

Sunita Nadhamuni is the co-ordinator of Bala Janaagraha, an affiliate of Janaagraha, the well known Bangalore based non-government organisation, committed to increasing citizen participation in local governance. Bala Janaagraha, founded in 2002 to inculcate good civic values in school children through community action, recently felicitated teachers participating in its civic awareness movement at a no-frills ceremony in Bangalore. Currently, 69 schools with an aggregate enrollment of 6,000 students are active in the programme.

An electronics engineering graduate of Andhra University and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York and with work experience in cutting edge software firms like Sun Microsystems and SGI, California, signing up with Bala Janaagraha was a mid-stream career switch. However, Nadhamuni and her husband Srikanth had acquired considerable social work experience as active members of the California based NGO, Indians for Collective Action (ICA), which is involved in several development projects in India. “In the US, I observed the tremendous impact voluntary service and participatory civic education had on children, and I was keen to bring this concept back home.” A meeting with ex-Citi Bank high-flier and Janaagraha promoter Ramesh Ramnathan, gave her the opportunity to translate her ideas into action.

A carefully designed programme, Bala Janaagraha inducts school students and teachers into core teams which work with community volunteers. In Bangalore Bala Janagraaha has partnered with Akshara Foundation to conduct its civic awareness programme. The programme is implemented during each participating school’s regular academic session (a 15-session course is conducted between July and December) wherein children in government and corporation schools are taught practical civics, which requires their involvement with local government and understanding their role as citizens. Simultaneously they develop teamwork, leadership and communication skills.

According to Nadhamuni, the Bala Janaagraha civic awareness programme is well structured and based on a book Me and My City authored by her and associate Rama Erabelli, also a software professional, where the principles of civic governance are highlighted to stimulate and involve young minds. During the past two years several campaigns to mobilise citizens against indiscriminate use of plastic, garbage separation etc and letter-writing campaigns to elected representatives have been undertaken by children in government schools.

“Teachers have a major role to play in the programme and special training is given to them. To this end Bala Janaagraha has partnered with iACT (International Academy of Creative Teaching), which specialises in training teachers professionally. Corporate sponsorships and support from companies like Phillips Innovation, Ernst & Young, Velankini Information Systems and Portal Systems has been invaluable. Our target is 100,000 children in the next five years and development of an effective system of volunteer management,” says Nadhamuni.

Hopefully gennext will be an improvement!

Sangeetha Venkatesh (Bangalore)