Anna University Dubai campus on the anvil

[dhilipkumar]

CHENNAI: An international campus of the Anna University (Chennai) could soon come up in Dubai with governmental support.
In a recognition, which is perhaps the first for a higher educational institution based in Tamil Nadu, administrators in Dubai have expressed interest in having a campus of the premier technical institution in the Middle-East.

"Authorities in Dubai have requested us to establish a campus there. Recently a three-member team comprising senior faculty of the Anna University (Chennai) visited Dubai to explore the feasibility of the proposal. The team has submitted a preliminary report which is under consideration," vice chancellor P Mannar Jawahar told The Times Of India on Wednesday. The proposal was still in its nascent stage and has to pass through several layers before being cleared.

Dubai had five years ago developed a Knowledge Village, which houses campuses of world renowned higher education institutions including the Middlesex University, American College of the Emirates, European University College, the British University and the University of Wollongong. Among the Indian institutions which have set up campuses in Dubai are the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS) and the Mahatma Gandhi University.

According to professor Jawahar, Singapore has also evinced interest in hosting a study centre of the Anna University (Chennai). Interestingly, prior to the splitting of the Anna University into four institutions a couple of years ago, it was the world's largest technical university.

Meanwhile, the university is expanding quickly within India as well and is opening study centres for offering post-graduate academic courses under the self-learning distance education mode. In addition to study centres in south India, the university is now setting foot in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi.

"We are establishing new study centres in Ahmadabad and Kolkatta, besides opening additional study centres in Maharashtra and Delhi. We decided on opening more study centres following representation from interested students," professor B N Sankar, director, Centre for Distance Education, Anna University (Chennai) said.

The study centres will offer MBA, MCA and M.Sc in Computer Science and Information Technology. In addition to the traditional MBA programme in General Management, Human Resources Management and Financial Services Management, the university will also offer specially designed MBA programmes in Technology Management, Retail Management and Health Services Management.

"We don't launch one-room study centres as some universities do. We usually establish study centres preferably in existing engineering colleges or in arts and science colleges which offer regular MBA programmes. This helps in sourcing faculty for handling contact classes. Availability of classrooms, computers and related infrastructure is also taken into account and we insist on a minimum of 25 students enrolling for a course," Sankar said.