Thursday, January 04, 2007
Educational opportunities in Hyderabad
New knowledge hub
CHARUDUTTA JENA
[ 4 Jan, 2007 2319hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
Outstation students are making a beeline for further education in the city. And the reasons are low cost of living, safety and the presence of niche institutions.
The recent announcement of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to be set up in the state, promises much more than just one more engineering college.
It means a step ahead for the state, which is emerging as an educational hub, not only for the quality of education, but also for other related factors like low cost of living, multilingual culture and safety. Dr MD Christopher, secretary, AP State Council for Higher Education says, “The boom in the service industry in the city has overshadowed it’s image of an educational destination. But many educational institutions like ISB, NIFT, NALSAR, IIIT, National Academy of Construction (NAC) and universities like HCU, OU and CIEFEL have been attracting students from different states.”
Vice Chancellor of NALSAR, Ranvir Singh feels that the presence of specialised centres of higher education like ISB, IIIT, NIFT and NAC are obvious attractors of students from other states, because there are very few such centres in the country. Besides, many educational institutions offer an all-round package that is both affordable and of high quality. “Other factors like safety, low cost of living and a multilingual population also make students opt to study in Hyderabad,” says Singh.
When Pragyan Parimita Barik from Orissa couldn’t get through a masters programme in Sociology at JNU, Delhi, her second preference was the Hyderabad Central University. “That’s because it’s safer for women, compared to cities like Delhi and Bangalore. I can go out on my own even in the night,” adds Pragyan. “Be it late night partying in pubs, window-shopping in malls or chilling out in multiplexes, the recreation options in the city are also many. Thanks to the moderate cost of living, we can save money for recreation,” feels Meenaxi Narang from Delhi, who is currently studying at NIFT.
And it’s not just the tag of ‘safe and fun city’ that is luring the students from various parts of the country. Even in terms of jobs, it’s a win-win situation for students and employers. Professor D Venkat Rao, head of the centre for cultural studies at CIEFEL, says, “Many students from different states come to study and take up jobs here. This adds to the quality to the state’s manpower,” says Rao. And it’s also convenient for companies to organise campus interviews here. It helps students who get greater visibility than their counterparts from colleges in other states. “Companies visit outstation campuses if there is a lack of talent pool in their own state.
They also seek outstation students to create a cosmopolitan workforce with perspectives from different regions. As many universities and colleges in the city offer a cosmopolitan crowd, companies prefer visiting them before going to outstation colleges,” informs Sreedhar T, chairman, executive recruiters’ association. According to him, majority of the outstation workforce in the city come from Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra. Though Tamil Nadu is an educational hub, but it doesn’t have as many employment opportunities as Hyderabad, he points out.
CHARUDUTTA JENA
[ 4 Jan, 2007 2319hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
Outstation students are making a beeline for further education in the city. And the reasons are low cost of living, safety and the presence of niche institutions.
The recent announcement of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to be set up in the state, promises much more than just one more engineering college.
It means a step ahead for the state, which is emerging as an educational hub, not only for the quality of education, but also for other related factors like low cost of living, multilingual culture and safety. Dr MD Christopher, secretary, AP State Council for Higher Education says, “The boom in the service industry in the city has overshadowed it’s image of an educational destination. But many educational institutions like ISB, NIFT, NALSAR, IIIT, National Academy of Construction (NAC) and universities like HCU, OU and CIEFEL have been attracting students from different states.”
Vice Chancellor of NALSAR, Ranvir Singh feels that the presence of specialised centres of higher education like ISB, IIIT, NIFT and NAC are obvious attractors of students from other states, because there are very few such centres in the country. Besides, many educational institutions offer an all-round package that is both affordable and of high quality. “Other factors like safety, low cost of living and a multilingual population also make students opt to study in Hyderabad,” says Singh.
When Pragyan Parimita Barik from Orissa couldn’t get through a masters programme in Sociology at JNU, Delhi, her second preference was the Hyderabad Central University. “That’s because it’s safer for women, compared to cities like Delhi and Bangalore. I can go out on my own even in the night,” adds Pragyan. “Be it late night partying in pubs, window-shopping in malls or chilling out in multiplexes, the recreation options in the city are also many. Thanks to the moderate cost of living, we can save money for recreation,” feels Meenaxi Narang from Delhi, who is currently studying at NIFT.
And it’s not just the tag of ‘safe and fun city’ that is luring the students from various parts of the country. Even in terms of jobs, it’s a win-win situation for students and employers. Professor D Venkat Rao, head of the centre for cultural studies at CIEFEL, says, “Many students from different states come to study and take up jobs here. This adds to the quality to the state’s manpower,” says Rao. And it’s also convenient for companies to organise campus interviews here. It helps students who get greater visibility than their counterparts from colleges in other states. “Companies visit outstation campuses if there is a lack of talent pool in their own state.
They also seek outstation students to create a cosmopolitan workforce with perspectives from different regions. As many universities and colleges in the city offer a cosmopolitan crowd, companies prefer visiting them before going to outstation colleges,” informs Sreedhar T, chairman, executive recruiters’ association. According to him, majority of the outstation workforce in the city come from Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra. Though Tamil Nadu is an educational hub, but it doesn’t have as many employment opportunities as Hyderabad, he points out.
# posted by chitta @ 4:29 PM 
