Saarc University to start academic session in Aug

The long-awaited and ambitious Saarc University will begin its academic session in August this year, aiming to transform the university into an institute of South Asian studies, which will focus on issues and challenges facing South Asia.
The university, intended to be state-of-excellence, will start functioning on a temporary campus in New Delhi. The campus of the university will be set up by 2014, for which land is being acquired in Mehrauli in South Delhi.
According to sources, the first session of the university would be held at a rented campus in New Delhi with 50 students following two master’s courses in development economics and computer studies.
The South Asian University will be a meeting of the intellect, mind and heart, said Prof GK Chandha, former vice chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the chief executive officer of the Saarc University, at a recent function in New Delhi.
Leaders of the eight South Asian countries gave final endorsement of the detail plans of the university during the 16th Saarc summit held on April 28-29 in the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu.
Spread over an estimated 100 acres of land, the campus facility costs about US$ 300 million borne entirely by the government of India.
As per the understanding reached by the Saarc leaders, the operational cost of the university, however, would be shared by the eighth Saarc member states at least for the first five years.
Then the university will be self-sustaining with extensive public private partnership models and linkages.
The undergraduates would be drawn from the Saarc countries, a maximum of 50 percent from the host country, India, and 10 percent from non-Saarc countries.
Tuition fee is fixed at US$ 440 per semester with most of the cost heavily subsidised to ensure easy access and affordability to all and scholarships offered along with earn while you learn programmes.
The university hopes to enroll after five years close to 3,000 students, 300 teachers and have 10 postgraduate facilities and a small faculty of undergraduates. Ultimately the university is planned to have 7,000 students and 700 teachers.
According to the officials, engineering and medical programmes will also be introduced after a few years.
The teaching staff will be mostly from Saarc countries, with at present many Sri Lankan professors and academician already drawn into it.
On crucial visa issue, officials said that India at the Saarc summit has asserted that there will be no discrimination in visas against any student from any country, including those from Pakistan, although police reporting would be a must.
They said the Indian government assured that visas will be facilitated in a timely manner to ensure that any student who gets admission is able to join the classes without any delay.

Courtesy of The Daily Star