Universities from Karnataka among those to host U.K. students over the next 5 years

Two universities from the State will be among nine in the country to play host to as many as 25,000 students from the United Kingdom over the next five years.

This is as part of the ‘Generation U.K.’ programme of the British government.

The universities shortlisted from the State are Bangalore University, University of Mysore, Gulbarga University, Manipal University, Christ University, and Jain University.

This announcement comes in the wake of the State being invited to the ‘Education World Forum,’ a ministerial education seminar held annually in London, United Kingdom..

T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Higher Education and Law and Parliamentary Affairs, said here on Saturday that the State’s focus at the meet would be on improving the English language skills of the rural youth, who otherwise are equipped with the required skill set.

Speaking about the State’s proposal to rate its universities, Mr. Jayachandra said the parameters for rating would include research and teaching excellence.

Score-wise, research excellence, academic excellence, employability and inclusiveness and social impact will be for 200 marks each, while innovation and infrastructure will be awarded 100 marks each, the Minister said.

Mr. Jayachandra also announced that 92 colleges in the State had secured Rs. 2 crore grant each under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), while four universities had received Rs. 20 crore each.

“Mentors have been appointed to enable distribution of funds,” Mr. Jayachandra added.

Courses on cyber security soon

Acknowledging the tremendous potential for employment in the field, the Higher Education Department is introducing courses in cyber security in universities and colleges from the coming academic year. T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Higher Education and Law and Parliamentary Affairs, said here on Saturday that India would require an estimated one lakh cyber security experts and professionals in the coming years and the proposed courses that will be offered in the State will cover essential areas such as event monitoring, traffic/security event analysis and incident response. The first level —PG diploma — set to be introduced in 2016-17, will include courses such as Cyber Forensic and Information Security, Secure Coding, Mobile and Cellular Network Security, and Information Security.

Date: Jan 18, 2016

Source: The Hindu