Universities in the US are presently considering partnerships with their Indian counterparts to develop joint degrees.

Speaking to USA Today, Mark Becker, president of Georgia State University, said: "Right now, we're basically doing exploration of India, trying to figure out what the path forward is there."

Degrees granted from foreign universities have had a long-standing appeal to students in India, with a large number of pupils choosing to pursue higher education in foreign countries.

Collaborative programmes developed by private Indian academic institutions in association with international schools have also been well received by pupils in search of academic courses with a greater global appeal.

In an interview with NDTV, Kapil Sibal, India's minister of human resource development, acknowledged that private sector organisations were necessary to cater to the large population.

However, he maintained that a rigorous qualification process would be implemented to ensure India's high standards of education were maintained.

The Australian High Commission issued a statement after media reports stated that around 15,000 Indian students could be forced to return after the new visa policy comes into force on July 1.

"First, we are making changes to Australia's skilled migration programme not our student visa programme," said the statement. It added that these changes were not India specific.

"They are not targeted at India or any other country. They were not triggered by the problems of the last year over attacks on Indian students," said the High Commission.

"No student, whether from India or elsewhere, currently studying in Australia is going to be asked to cease their course because of changes to our skilled migration programme. They will be allowed to complete their studies. Many have visas that enable them to study courses for several years," said the statement.

At the same time, it was pointed out that a student visa holder is in Australia for only a temporary specified period to study and is not guaranteed migration. The commission also clarified that there were no plans to restrict the number of student visas.

"These concerns relate to a bill that is currently before the Australian parliament. The amendments proposed in this bill have been designed to manage the skilled migration programme and ensure it meets the labor market needs of the Australian economy as flexibly as possible. There are no plans to apply this to the student visa programme," said the press release.

After their studies, international students can apply for a temporary skilled graduate visa which will give them 18 months with full work rights, it added.

UK Universities Admission Process

Under Graduation Courses

British students undergo thirteen years of pre-university academics when compared to twelve of Indian students.

Students from India are required to either outperform in their class XII exams or undergo a course called the bridging course or foundation course or access course to enter into any college in Britain for under graduation. This is compulsory for entry into Oxford, London or Cambridge universities.

To avoid the one-year course, students can also write an examination called the 'A' level examination in India itself. These exams are conducted twice a year and require early enrolment. Excellent written and spoken English is essential; exam syllabus can be obtained from the nearest British council.

A score of six is the minimum requirement in this exam and the exam can be written in the nearest British council itself and will cost approximately Rs. 3000.

Applications for all colleges are available from Universities and College Admission Services (UCAS). By completing a single form, students are eligible to try admissions in six colleges. Applications are available at the British council offices.

Filled UCAS applications must be submitted by 15th of December the preceding year, applications will be processed till June 30th after which forms are handled by a system called the 'clearing process'. For admissions into the

Oxford or Cambridge universities, filled forms have to be submitted before the 15th of October the preceding year and a student cannot apply for both the universities for the same academic year. Application forms are different for these universities are different from the rest of the universities

Post Graduation Courses

For entry into post graduation courses, a three year degree in any stream in the Indian universities is sufficient and is recognized in Britain as equivalent to their British Bachelor (ordinary) degree.

For admission into few postgraduate courses in Britain, a four year degree much like a B.E., B.Tech etc is required and this recognized as equivalent to their British Bachelor (Honors) degree. Completion of post graduate degree like M.A., M.Sc etc from any Indian university is also accepted.

Post graduate degrees such as M.Tech, M.E. from institutes such as IIT are considered as equivalent to their British Master's degree.

Admission forms can be obtained from the university web site by downloading them or by filling and sending them online.

* US Universities Admission Process:

Source: breakingnewsonline.net By By Priyesh Ranjan Admission Procedure into Foreign Universities

Arvinder Singh Lovely, edu- cation and transport minister, Delhi, and principals from 25 schools were also present.

Pike said that there is a need to take the ongoing exchange programmes to a higher level and for this, the countries need to explore other areas of exchange and interaction.

"We need to come up with creative ideas to strengthen and sustain the ongoing education programmes. For instance, with the help of technology, students from Delhi and Melbourne can work together on projects. This will enable student-to-student contact and strengthen ties between the nations," said Pike.

On how India can play a vital role, Lovely said, "We need to focus on the vocational train- ing programmes and learn from Australia. India, too, can help Australia with the value-added education."

The principals, who have taken part in the exchange pro- grammes, spoke about their experiences in Australia and what India can learn from there.

"I have been a part of exchange programmes since 2007. The education system in Australia gave me a better understanding of how voca- tional education can be intro- duced here. I was impressed and tried to implement a few things in my school," said Jyoti Gupta, Principal KR Mangalam World School, Greater Kailash II.

As part of the Pan-African e-network project between India and Africa that was launched last year, DU will start conducting these unique tele-education classes for students of the African Union from July this year.

A.K. Bakshi of the Institute of Lifelong Learning (ILL) said, "Initially, the subjects that will be taught through this medium will be two accountancy and English but gradually more subjects will be brought into the loop."

"As part of the project, the teacher will sit in the studio in the DU campus and interact with students in Africa. They will see each other through a plasma TV it will be a virtual classroom just like they show in ads these days!" Bakshi told the sources.

The syllabus has been drawn through mutual agreement, he added.

While the African Union has 53 countries and the project aims to connect India to all of them, the DU has until now entered into agreement with just six of them.

"DU will initially assist students in six African countries which include countries like Gambia, Niger and Somalia," said an official of the Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), which is assisting in the technical aspects of implementing the project.

Source: indiaedunews.net From Delhi, Indians to teach students in Africa

This is another initiative supported by the Australian government to enhance the experience of international students in Australia.

The website is designed to provide past, present and future Indian students in Australia with their own networking portal online.

CLick On Image For Site View

Features of the website include individual member pages, blogs, discussion forums and the capacity to share videos, photos, news and events.

Speaking at the launch of the website on February 17, Australia's High Commissioner to India, Peter Varghese, said, "A feature of modern education creates long-lasting networks between students. Those studying overseas should seize the opportunity to build a global network of friends and acquaintances."

"We want this website to assist students in getting the information they need to have a productive and happy time in Australia and to build a network of friends and colleagues that will stay with them throughout their professional lives."

He added, "I encourage all past and present Indian students in Australia to log onto www.MyOzNetwork.com to see how the website might be useful to them."

Speaking at the launch, Australian alumni said they had found studying in Australia a rewarding and enriching experience. They welcomed the establishment of MyOzNetwork.com to help them maintain their networks and build new ones.

The website was launched at a gala event at the Shangri La Hotel in New Delhi on February 17, 2010.

The UK today partially lifted a ban on accepting visa applications from students in north India for higher studies, a move that will benefit thousands of aspirants to study in that country.

The UK Border Agency had imposed the temporary suspension from February 1 in north India after it received unprecedented rise in the number of applications.

"The suspension was taken in response to a huge surge in applications over a very short period of time. I am delighted to be able to announce today that, from March 1, this suspension will be lifted for all students wanting to study higher education courses, whether foundation degrees, undergraduate or postgraduate," McFadden, who is visiting India, said here.

However, the temporary suspension remains in place for all those wanting to study at lower levels.

"But we will continue to keep this under review and will lift it as soon as we can, and once the new 'highly trusted sponsor' system for colleges and other educational establishments across the UK is in place," he said.

The Department of Employment and the OPB have signed a pact with the State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala and Oriental Bank of Commerce to provide education to the students abroad, said an official spokesperson at "Education Fair and Seminar" here yesterday.

"Student interested in seeking education abroad may register themselves on www.haryanajobs.in or www.opbharyana.com.

Other information in this regard is also available on these websites," informed D Ranjan Sharma, authorised consultant of the bureau.

Representatives of different foreign educational institutes and universities participated in the fair, each informing about the commercial and academic courses run in their countries.

Source: The Tribune Govt Turns Facilitator For Oversees Studies

Australia Immigration Minister Chris Evans said the revision of the immigration rules would tilt the inflow of foreign migrants to invite more doctors, engineers and IT professionals to suit Australia's local demands.

He also announced scrapping the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) to limit the eligibility for independent skilled migration to "a more targeted set of occupations".

"It (MODL) encouraged overseas students to train in particular occupations to make it easier to acquire permanent residence, in the process skewing the skilled migration programme to a narrow set of occupations," he said.

Blaming the access of lower skilled immigrants, as against skilled professionals on the migration system hitherto in place, he said: "We were taking hairdressers from overseas in front of doctors and nurses, it didn't make any sense".

On the deficiencies in the existing system, Evans said: "A Rhodes Scholar would not pass the points test if he or she took a degree in chemistry or mathematics... (but) there are several occupations -- cooks and hairdressers -- where international students can study in Australia, acquire qualifications in 92 weeks and be on the road to permanent residence".

In a statement, Johnson said Britain will continue to welcome genuine foreign students, but will come down heavily on those who use student visas to come to Britain mainly to work and abuse the system. He said: "We remain open to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for legitimate study. But those who are not seriously interested in coming here to study but primarily to work -- they should be in no doubt that we will come down hard on them."

Under the new measures, successful applicants from India and other countries outside the European Union will have to meet a higher bar on English language requirement, and students taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work for 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present. Those in courses which last under six months will not be allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the dependants of students on courses below degree level will not be allowed to work.