Washington, Oct 14 (IANS): A first of its kind programme for leaders of Indian higher education at Yale University has been highlighted as an example of dynamic and innovative cooperation between the United States and India.
The India-Yale Higher Education Leadership Programme, developed after extensive discussions between Yale and Indian officials, came under the spotlight here Thursday at the first US India Higher Education Summit to promote deeper linkages in the area of higher education.
As many as 26 vice chancellors, institute directors, deans and other officials of higher education institutions in India attended the programme, held on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut from Sep 25 to Oct 9. It also included field visits to other public and private institutions in the region.
The programme was supported by the University Grants Commission of India and the Ministry of Human Resource Development was developed in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode.
The programme is not a stand-alone event, but will be followed by another programme in March 2012 at the Indian Institute of Management in Kozhikode, Kerala, and additional programmes at Yale in 2012 and 2013, according to the University.
India's Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, who co-chaired the summit with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, noted effective academic leadership will be a serious need as India strives to meet the requirements of 50 million more college-age students by building 1,000 more universities and 50,000 more colleges over the next decade.
"Our hope was that the India-Yale Higher Education Leadership Programme provided the participants with opportunities to critically think about the challenges that they face as academic leaders and to expose them to how administrators and faculty at Yale address similar challenges," Yale University President Richard Levin stated.
"Following the academic leadership programme at Yale, it is hoped that a sustainable national programme on academic leadership can be evolved in India through new national centres of excellence," said Sanjay Dhande, Director of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.