Education Briefs

In the new global enrollment drive of Webster University, Thailand, India is a major recruitment area. Webster proposes to increase its student enrollment from 223 currently to 400 by the start of the fall (autumn) semester of 2008.

Webster offers bachelor of arts degrees in international business, media communications, international relations, psychology; bachelor of science degrees in business administration and computer science and certificate programmes in Buddhist studies and Thai language and culture. Indian graduates of the university are employed in HSBC, ING Vysya Bank, Met Life, IBM, Hindustan Lever, Tata, Maruti, Suzuki and Playwin among other high profile corporates.

According to education consultant Ikram Singh Bawa, chief executive of the Delhi-based Roots Education which represents Webster in India, the university’s USP (unique selling proposition) is that Indian students seeking an American or international degree can attain their aspirations without having to leave the region. "At Webster, Indian students can earn an American degree which is recognised by the North Central Accrediting Association in the US and the Thai ministry of education, and still be close to home and their parents, and save money in the process," says Bawa.

Students can also choose flexible customised study programmes which suit their individual objectives — they can easily step-in or step-out of the university, study online or pursue various classroom options — or take advantage of Webster’s unique site transfer programme which allows students the opportunity to transfer to other campuses in the Webster University system including Austria, China, England, Netherlands, Switzerland and the US.

For further information e-mail ikram@prohost.co.in or rootseducation@prohost.co.in

Bangalore’s new Indo-American School

In association with Morgan Park Academy, Chicago, the mint new TREAMIS World School sited in Bangalore’s Electronics City offers K-12 education with "a global curriculum in a truly international environment". With a highly qualified and internationally experienced faculty, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a fully integrated curriculum, TREAMIS is committed to the pursuit of excellence in international education.

"The value proposition of TREAMIS is that it provides uninterrupted education to children of relocating global employees and the experience of a global learning environment to local children," says Venkatesh Koravadi, managing director of TREAMIS World School which offers a curriculum that is seamlessly integrated with the US at the lower level and provides a choice of Indian (CBSE), British (IGCSE), IB and US curriculum options in high school.

These academic options will eminently suit the children of Indian diplomats moving abroad and those of expatriate families moving to Bangalore. Moreover TREAMIS offers students the option to study for a semester in the US at no additional cost.

Little wonder academics at the Morgan Park Academy, Chicago are bullish about this collaborative venture. "Bringing these two schools together will allow us to export the experience and best practices of MPA acquired over the past 130 years to TREAMIS. Together the schools will reinvent K-12 education in the context of globalisation," says Bill Adams, head of school at the Morgan Park Academy.

More than 250 delegates, comprising principals, heads of schools, managing trustees, administrators and teachers from across the country attended an education seminar on the theme ‘Building global learning communities through leadership and technology’ hosted in Kolkata by Afairs — India’s premier education fairs firm — in early February. Among the prominent Kolkata-based schools represented at the seminar were DPS, Don Bosco, Lakshmipat Singhania, Birla High, Calcutta International School, M.B. Girls, Cambridge International, Adamas International & B.D. Memorial School.

Eminent speakers at the seminar included Dr. John Kurien, director of the Centre For Learning Resources, Pune; Sridhar Rajagopalan, founder of Educational Initiatives, Ahmedabad; Dr. Parth J. Shah, president of the Centre for Civil Society, Delhi; Ashish Rajpal, co-founder and chief executive of iDiscoveri Education, Delhi.

The seminar was the curtain raiser to the 3rd India International Premier School’s Exhibition (IIPSE), staged between February 3-5 at Ice Skating Rink, Kolkata, where some of the best schools from across India showcased themselves. "We first conceived IIPSE as a platform to meet the growing demand for quality education. But today we find busy parents lacking time and access to authentic information about school education using it as a time and cost effective medium to choose suitable schools for their children," says Sanjeev Bolia chief executive of Afairs.

The American School of Aviation (ASA), a premier US-based airline pilots training institute has appointed AvOMATS, an aviation consultancy in Bangalore as business associate to represent its interests in India. "Bangalore is, and will continue to be the national centre for aviation activities in India, with major brands of the private sector in the process of making Bangalore their main hub of activities. Hence, we chose to come to Bangalore which is the aviation capital of India," says Reny Kozman, the US-based vice president of ASA.

Aspiring pilots signing up with ASA/AvOMATS will be provided preliminary training at ASA India’s Gurgaon Centre, followed by academic and flight training at ASA’s training centre in Atwater, California. ASA is a FAA certified flying training school in terms of 14 CFR part 141 and owns and operates a large fleet of Cessna, Piper, Beach Craft, Cirrus, Diamond and Symphony aircraft. The school has its own fully furnished and comfortable residential facilities.

In India, ASA offers the Indian Special Flight Training Program (ISFTP) and Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) programme, which are of eight and ten months duration, open to the youth 17 years and older. Enrollment eligibility conditions are successful completion of Plus Two with mathematics, physics and English language.