Society

As They SAU It

Set up two years ago, it’s yet to make its presence felt

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As They SAU It
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What does it mean to have an international university? Do universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University or Delhi University qualify to be international universities on the merit of the number (or quality) of students they attract from abroad? Or, from some exceptional teaching staff comparable to the best in the world? India’s experience with “international universities” doesn’t exactly shed much light. Academics who worked at the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Wardha, admit they had no clue about what the international tag it bore entailed. Neither the faculty nor the infrastructure is worth a mention, they add testily.

While these complaints are enough to breed healthy scepticism, officials say these are early days yet for the South Asian University (SAU). This Delhi-based collaboration by seven SAARC countries made its debut two years ago as the first international university in the country. Government officials clarify that while the Mahatma Gandhi International University was an attempt to internationalise Hindi by attracting students from abroad, SAU is the result of an international effort and a commitment to fostering better understanding between signatories.

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Still a low-key affair, the university—which offers post-graduate courses in six streams with 35 teachers—has a mandate perhaps different from other universities. In sum, to promote a better understanding between SAARC countries that will, hopefully, bring down strife. There are plans to have satellite campuses in the SAARC countries. SAU will also move out of its temporary abode to an expansive area of 300 acres in Maidangarhi—south of Delhi. Two years may well be too short a time to judge a university, but officials say collaborations with foreign universities are also being worked out. There are plans to start engineering courses and also in medicine.

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The governing body, which is the highest policy- and decision-making body, which has two members drawn from the SAARC countries, is yet to get representatives from Pakistan. Completely under the supervision of the MEA, SAU is—like Nalanda—yet to make its presence felt in the academic firmament.

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