E-Paper
AU plan to woo foreign research scholars
Foreign Students Advisory Board (FSAB) of Allahabad University (AU) has proposed to increase the fee and admit the foreign students in research works on super numerary basis in the varsity.
Foreign Students Advisory Board (FSAB) of Allahabad University (AU) has proposed to increase the fee and admit the foreign students in research works on super numerary basis in the varsity.
The issue was discussed in a meeting of FSAB under the presidentship of AU Vice-Chancellor Prof RG Harshe on Tuesday. The proposals have been sent to the VC for approval and are likely to be approved by the VC in a day or two.
FSAB headed by Prof NR Farooqi discussed about the fee structure of the foreign students of the varsity vis-à-vis other central universities.
The members proposed to admit the students on super numerary basis allowing one foreign student along with other students under one guide to carry out research work.
The present system allows only six students enrolled in research under a teacher as per the guidelines of UGC.
The members said that the foreign students failed to get admission in research owing to dearth of guides in the varsity despite the fact that the foreign students were sponsored by the Central Government.
Three foreign students had applied for research work in the varsity this year but failed to get enrolled due to shortage of guides.
Taking cognisance of the situation the FSAB has proposed the super numerary enrolment according to which one foreign students will be attached with the guides other than the allocated six students.
FSAB also proposed to increase the fee of the foreign students enrolled in the research programmes following regular discussions on the issue in the past. The authorities decided to increase the fee following the change in the status of the varsity.
FSAB Chairman Prof NR Farooqi said: "We have decided to rationalise the fee of foreign students following the fee structure in other central universities of the country. However we have kept the fee much lower than the other central universities".
According to the proposal, the present fee of 50 to 60 dollars charged from foreign students will be increased to 2,000 dollars.
The self financing students will have some relief as they will have to pay 200 dollars. "The hike in fee will not affect the students as they were sponsored by the government", said Prof Farooqi.
Besides the fee structure and admissions, it has also been proposed to increase the facilities offered to foreign students in the varsity. Besides renovation of the hostel rooms, construction of a new building has also been proposed by the Board. Under the renovation work, the bathroom blocks of the International Hostel will be reconstructed besides installation of fans in all rooms and an inter-continental mess in the hostel too have been proposed in the meeting.
A committee has been formed to monitor the work at the International Hostel which will have Dean Students Welfare Prof Jagdamba Singh, Director, International Hostel Prof Shankar Dayal Dwivedi, AU Registrar Firdous A Wani, Finance Officer S Parabramaiah and AU Engineer Naveen Kumar as members.
