Saturday, July 10, 2010

Yale comes calling, writes to HRD min for formal tie-up

Financial Express, July 10, 2010
New Delhi: Nearly two months after the Kapil Sibal-led human resource development (HRD) ministry introduced the long-awaited Foreign Universities Bill in Parliament to remove the roadblocks for foreign varsities coming to India, the first of the ivy league has finally come calling. The Yale University has written to the HRD ministry saying it wants to formalise a proposal to mentor the Innovation Universities and conduct the Yale India Leadership programme.
To seal the tie-up formally, Yale has proposed to ink a MoU with the government this October, sources told The Indian Express. The move incidentally, also comes critically timed with President Obama’s expected India visit slated for early November.
In a letter to the HRD minister written on July 6, the University of Yale has proposed that a formal announcement of this major tie-up be made in October when Yale president Richard C Levin visits India. The letter reads Yale would like to “mentor”and assist in the setting up of the Innovation Universities proposed by India. As many as 14 Innovation Universities backed with world-class standards and unbridled academic opportunities are planned by the HRD ministry which envisages global top notch institutes and varsities tying up with them to ensure quality education is imparted in these.
An India specific Yale-India Leadership programme specifically for leaders of Indian educational institutes will also be developed and Yale will be sending across a formal template for the same by July end, sources said. The leadership programme aimed at grooming academic leadership in view of the massive expansion in the Indian education sector will be targeted at vice chancellors, deans, pro-vosts, registrars, heads of departments, deputy directors and members of board of governors of institutes among others.
The nod also has to do with the fact that the countdown has begun on India opening its doors to foreign varsities. With the Foreign Universities Bill promising a facilitatory framework for foreign varsities to operate in India, India’s seriousness on higher education reform is no longer under doubt.
The Yale move comes after rounds of discussions the HRD ministry has been holding for months now with the ivy league in an attempt to get global talent and academics interested in its higher education reform and expansion plans.
Sibal has piloted most of these talks and reinforced them with his visits abroad--most recent being the Indo-US Strategic dialogue. While most varsities from Yale to Harvard and Cambridge have expressed interest in India’s proposed Innovation universities and the Foreign Universities Bill, the Yale project is the first concrete proposal that has come to the ministry.
Levin was the first Yale president to visit India in 2005 and sees immense potential in India.

No comments: