Shortly after announcing its partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Canberra (UC) had sealed a deal with another overseas educational institution that is now bearing fruit.
In its partnership with Chandigarh University, UC opened the Indo-Australian Centre for Advance Studies in the Chandigarh’s campus in Punjab, India.
Professor Deep Saini, UC’s vice-chancellor and president, said the centre will allow Chandigarh’s students access to courses “that have University of Canberra syllabus embedded within them, before completing their studies here in the capital of Australia.”
“This important partnership invests in strengthening education ties with India to deliver a range of degrees at a lower cost for a quality education,” Professor Saini said.
Professor Saini said this can particularly help Indian students who want to access UC’s education without having to worry about the high fees international students pay.
“This is a special collaboration between two young but ambitious universities and shows the dedication of both universities to providing innovative international education solutions,” Dr Rajinder Singh Bawa, vice-chancellor of Chandigarh University, said.
“It will build on both universities’ strong reputation for industry links and high employment outcomes.”
What’s more, Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, said UC and Chandigarh’s partnership goes beyond education and employment.
“It will create a bridge between our countries, allowing Australian and Indian students to better understand each other and to forge the strong people-to-people links that are the bedrock of a strong bilateral relationship,” Sidhu said.
The most recent OECD report shows that India is the second-largest source of international students for Australia, following China.
But with India currently in the process of overhauling its entire education system, Australian universities are given all the more reason to improve their ties with Indian schools.
UC is not the only Australian university to reach out to Indian universities to secure future students. The University of New England recently secured funding to provide online education to Indian hospital managers.
Areas of focus
Through the collaboration, UC will be extending its curriculum and pedagogic expertise with the Indian university. The partnership, in general, will also cover administration support and research development.
Initially, the Centre will give primary focus on business and information technology but will also expand to cover other programs in the future.
The Centre’s articulation pathway will initially take in 25-50 students by next year but will grow to cover 100-150 students in the next years to come as it is expected to also accept students who are not necessarily from Chandigarh.
Through the New Colombo Plan which provided three years’ worth of funding, Australian students can also take short study tours to Chandigarh.