Posts Tagged ‘courses’
More on Education in Germany
Sometime back I posted a blog on education in Germany and the DAAD scholarships which can get you there. Today I came across an article in The Hindu that discusses the prospects of education in Germany and what it has to offer to Indian students. I got some new information and decided to share it here. The article gives details about the different categories of Universities to be found in Germany. The range of courses offered is extensive. Germany currently offers 90 Bachelor’s programmes, 450 Master’s programmes, and 190 doctoral programmes. Check out the article here if you are considering courses abroad.
Study As You Like in Community Colleges
Education is trying to seamlessly fit into every lifestyle and is taking varied responsibilities into consideration. Not everybody can follow the rules laid down by conventional means of imparting education and more and more people are realizing and respecting this fact. This is why we are seeing the upsurge of online learning and distance learning which are great alternatives for people who are unable to make it to schools and colleges. Future education, training and communication will be largely online and it looks all set to pervade all corners. It’s little surprise then that states are considering community colleges for the purpose of education of all levels.
A community college lets you pursue your degree the way you want it. You have the option of attending regular face-to-face classes, you can choose to take your programme online and you can opt for a part-time or a full-time course. Thus community colleges are a one-stop-shop for all kinds of courses. You can enroll for an associate degree in various fields which will enable you to get admitted to a college or university for completion of degree. Karnataka’s first initiative, the Geeta Ramanujam Educational Institution (GREI), is off the mark with 29 students who have signed up for associate degree courses. The certificates will be given by IGNOU and the job-oriented courses will ensure that students get employed soon after course completion.
Looking forward to more such initiatives in other states of India. With this, the vision of bringing education to everybody is getting brighter by the day.
Exploring Erasmus Mundus Scholarships
When it comes to offering a wide range of scholarships for various masters and research courses, there aren’t many resources that can beat Erasmus Mundus. The European Commission offers these scholarships under the education and training services. The scholarships are available for undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral studies for students all over the world. Trainers and teachers have also been covered under the scholarship scheme which gives academicians a great opportunity to sharpen their skills under a prestigious fellowship programme.
The courses covered range from art and agriculture studies to business management and technology. Apart from the well known and desired courses, offbeat courses such as ship design, early childhood care, vision and robotics are offered. With these scholarships, the options available are practically endless and it’s really difficult to find a programme that is not covered. The programmes are offered in prestigious European Universities that boast of intellectually stimulating and multicultural ambiences. Some of the programmes are jointly offered by two or more universities. This gives a student the opportunity to experience diverse campus cultures and brings him/her in close contact with some of the best academic minds.
To see a complete list of scholarships on offer and application procedures, visit this link.
Move Up With Forign Languages
In blog posts earlier that focused on the advantages of learning foreign languages, I talked about the upper hand that you get while looking for a job. A recently published article in The Hindu addresses the same and talks about a few opportunities that are available to students who pick up a foreign language in addition to their courses. As globalization spreads, being multilingual definitely gets you in touch with a wider audience and as a result, access to better opportunities.
According to the article, French still remains a favourite but Chinese and German are picking up fast. A student who is equipped with important soft skills and a foreign language to go with them, can command a starting salary as high as 30 grand. Some of the best places to pick up foreign languages in Hyderabad are EFLU, Ramakrishna Math and others. Click here to take a look at the article. I will be posting specific job openings in this blog soon.
New Course on Animation and Visual Effects
Fascinated by animation? Fond of classics like The Lion KIng and can’t stop watching Kung Fu Panda? Well how about turning your fascination into a rewarding and exciting career? Surveys reveal that animation is one of the fastest growing industries in India. Recent movies like Hanuman have made a big impact and it’s only getting started. With time, more projects will be taken up and we will see our Indian superheroes in all their glory in animation movies. Apart from movies, expertise in visual effects can also secure a place for you in the rapidly growing gaming industry. We have come a long way since Mario and Contra and a look at the new-age games developed for various gaming consoles reveal how visually rich and realistic they have become.
While there are no doubts about the demand for professionals, finding good courses can surely be difficult. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has partnered with Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics to launch a full time 3 year degree course on 3D animation and visual effects. In addition to equipping students with all the technical knowhow, the course will also groom the students in soft skills so that it becomes easier for them to secure employment. You need to have completed your 10+2 to apply for this course. Upon completion, you can look forward to joining media organizations, production houses or studios. you can also choose to become a freelancer or an independent filmmaker.
Visit the IGNOU website for course details and other relevant information.
Scholarships for Studying in Germany
Among other European nations like UK and France, Germany has emerged as a promising destination for higher education. The German expertise in engineering and automobiles is well known and what can be better than picking up the skills from Deutschland itself? More and more students are heading to Germany every year for engineering, management, law, science and education courses. To make matters easy for Indian students, The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers a variety of scholarships for students who want to pursue various graduate or research programmes in Germany.
If you are planning on going to Germany, it might be a good idea to learn German so that it’s easier for you to find your way around. There are plenty of English speakers though, and some courses are also offered in English. Universities are also known to conduct crash courses in German for students coming from foreign shores. The advantage of knowing German is that it will be easier for you to get part-time jobs there and fund your study.
For information on study and courses in Germany, visit this link. For the DAAD scholarships, check this out.
British Council Launches New Courses
The British Council has been instrumental in launching several effective English courses in addition to providing guidance and training to students who want to head to UK for higher studies. Putting their great experience and expertise into practice, they have come up with three new English courses. The courses being offered are English Impact, English Evolution and Business English. Looking at the titles, it is quite clear that the courses will be extremely useful for candidates who want to make it big in corporate communications. Admission to the courses will be through a written test of 90 minutes. This will enable the instructors at British Council to determine which course will suit which applicant.
Look Before You Leap
Undoubtedly, new courses that are being introduced in various colleges all over India are bringing in a whole new attitude to job hunting and a variety of new skills for students to equip themselves with. Several times in this blog I have talked about the necessity of these courses and how important it is to look beyond the obvious and explore new avenues. However, we need to take a look at the dark side of this as well where education and business get intertwined.
Many of these upcoming courses are job oriented and require extensive exposure to the industry, good infrastructure and knowledgeable faculty. Riding on the wave of students waking up to these new opportunities, institutions are springing up every other day in an effort to cash in on the awareness and make money. These institutions offer diplomas and degrees in unconventional courses and promise much to the students. However, most of these colleges are set up in a hurry with very little consideration towards what is required to handle the courses in the right way. So after spending a year or two in a college you might still find yourself ill-equipped to carry out the responsibilities you will be entrusted with.
It is advisable therefore to know more about an institution before joining it. It might be offering the courses you want to take but does it have all that it takes to make a success story out of you? Talk to former students of the college, look through its placement record and try to gather as much information as possible. Go for it once you are reasonably satisfied.
Gaining Momentum by Looking At New Courses
While established universities are looking to enhance their appeal and reaching out to the new generation by introducing new courses, new universities are relying on these courses to gain a foothold for themselves. In this time of diversity when the industry is coming up with new profiles to cope with new responsibilities and is constantly re-inventing itself, specialized courses that prepare students for these new posts are gaining ground. Upcoming and newly inaugurated universities know that established universities, owing to bureaucratic problems, will take a while to set up the necessary infrastructure to run these courses, so there is nothing like starting with the courses in demand.
Nithm, an autonomous institute jointly established by the Govt. of AP and the Govt. of India, is offering courses like Diploma in Travel Agency and Tour Operators, Diploma in Facilities Management, Event Management, Food Production and Restaurant and Catering Services and Housekeeping and Tour Guiding programmes. Such courses will definitely see plenty of takers as there aren’t too many institutions in India offer such a wide array of Hospitality and Tourism courses. What is important though, is that capable and knowledgeable people are selected to run these courses. Since the courses are new, getting experienced faculty will be difficult. Let us see how Nithm and other institutes go about it.
Stop by the Finishing School For Job Training on Your Way to the Industry
Conducting finishing schools for students on the threshold of entering the industry is emerging as a welcome initiative. I have come across several reports of colleges and universities arranging finishing schools which are all about putting the icing on the cake. Throughout the years spent on their courses, students have been made to focus primarily on theory and domain knowledge. However, as it is well known, you need a lot more than just domain knowledge to make yourself the right choice for recruiters. Finishing schools attempt to equip students with all the necessary extras to make them employable.
To instill confidence in the students to face recruitment tests and interviews, finishing schools train the participants in all they can expect from the selection process. Effective communication, logical reasoning, numerical and analytical prowess, group discussions and interviews are put under the limelight and plenty of practice sessions enable students to form a reasonably clear idea of the kind of questions that await them in the tests and interviews. Some finishing schools also incorporate workshops where students get trained in some important software which they will have to work with on a daily basis.
Much as I admire this concept, I hope institutions do not leave everything to the finishing schools and keep training students as they pursue their courses. Otherwise the finishing schools might be left with too much to handle and too little time in which to handle everything.