Chandigarh, Tuesday, November 9, 1999
Chandigarh, Tuesday, November 9, 1999 |
Foreign universities target Indian students By P.K. Vasudeva INDIA has over 3 million executives in managerial positions without formal education in management. There is a demand for lakhs of management graduates in the industry. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other reputed institutions produce only a few thousands each year. Slip-shod
implementation of schemes |
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Foreign universities target
Indian students INDIA has over 3 million executives in managerial positions without formal education in management. There is a demand for lakhs of management graduates in the industry. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other reputed institutions produce only a few thousands each year. This vast gap cannot be filled by the B-schools of management. If the industry takes students from C-Schools, which are below standard, the productivity will come down and so will the quality. The need of the hour is to raise the standard of management institutes. This can be done if recognised management institutes and the universities are accredited by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) sincerely. These should be graded from A to Z according to performance. To tap the vast potential available in management education, the Chennai-base B-School, Brilliant’s School of Management, will aggressively market in the corporate sector for a share in management education. At a press conference, Mr S.M. Datta, Chairman of the Academic Advisory Council in )(AAC) B-School, said in the new global economy, there was serious concern at the competitive position of Indian business and industry. There was a lack of management learning, which was not only affecting growth, but also affecting innovation and the ability to take calculated risks—key factors for survival and success in today’s tough business environment. The AICTE had stated that the annual demand for management training in the country is around 25,000 students. It is in this context that the B-School was providing management education to practising managers to equip them with changing management environment with a two-year distance learning post graduate diploma in business management (PGDBM) programmes. Mr T. Neelakanthan Managing, Director of B-School, said so far there were about 200 companies from all over the country that had sponsored candidates to take up the managerial course. The school was using innovative methods through videos, audio and text, with insights and comments from industry experts, he added. The Brilliant School of Management had invested about Rs 2.5 crore in the school. The group would be spending around 25 to 30 per cent of the amount every year for the facilities. The two-year course of the B-School cost about Rs 30,000 plus Rs 2500 for examination. In the first summer of the third millennium IIM-A management, graduates may spin around the Dow-Footsie-Nikkei axis with the bulls and bears. Nine first-year graduates of the IIM-A, Ahmedabad, secured summer placements in financial markets at Wall Street, London, and Tokyo in 1999, even as five more were posted in different parts of the world in the very beginning itself. This is the first time that so many students have been picked up for management courses in overseas summer placements. Usually a handful of students are placed overseas for summer training, said IIM-A’s placement coordinator A Mangla. One hundred and twenty students were placed in all on the very first day taking the total to 219, he added. According to the institute the recruiters represent a well-balanced portfolio with Credit Suisse First Boston, ICICI, International Financial Corporation, DSP Merrill Lynch, GE Capital, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley (Investment Banking and Finance), Anderson Consulting, Arthur Andersen, E&Y, KPMG, Price Waterhouse Coopers (consulting), ABN-AMRO, ANZ Grindlays, Citibank, SHBC, Standatd Chartered (Banking), HLL, Olam International P&G and SmithKline Beecham (Marketing). Most of these companies have been regular recruiters on campus and the large numbers picked up, reflect IIMAs long-standing and enduring relations with them. The objective of a summer training assignment is to provide students with opportunities to relate classroom learning of concepts and skills to real-life management situations and have a first-hand exposure to the functioning of an organisation. This also enables students to come back from their summer assignments and share with one another their experiences in different industries and management situations. Ultimately, it helps the students find placements in the same companies. It is seen that foreign universities find an enormous market for their MBA courses in India among young corporate executives and students, judging not only by the frequent advertisements for the courses, but also the full-fledged convocation held recently in Delhi. To make inroads into the Indian education market, the university has customised the course to suit the Indian market environment. While a substantive number of universities in Britain and the USA had been actively offering professional courses to Indian students and recruiting them as well, Australia’s Deakin University has gone many steps farther. On October 7, it held a formal convocation in Delhi for its Indian students perhaps, for the first time a foreign university has done such a thing. Besides, it has got its distance education management programme launched along with the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (APESMA) and endorsed by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The customisation of international management programme has been done by the faculty of management experts from the institutions of the country such as the IIMs, Ahmedabad and Calcutta, the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) Delhi. The study guide on information technology for managers has been developed in India and includes several case studies of Indian companies and how they have integrated IT planning in their companies. The customisation gives this particular MBA course an edge over its competitors. Besides, it has international recognition in contrast to proliferating private colleges in the country that offer MBA courses. The effort to tailor an international management programme offered in 48 countries across the globe to suit the specific conditions of Indian Industry has helped Deakin University carve a niche for itself among working professionals and corporates. Among the 400 students in the country taking the course, several are employed in companies such as Air France, Cox & King, Air-India, American Express, DHL World Wide, Hyat Agency, General Motors, British Airways, Apollo Tyres and Telstra. Though the programme has attracted only 400 students in the past three years of its existence in India, yet Mr Robert Thomson, Director of the Associations Division of Deakin University, is confident that it will have 3000 to 4,000 Indian students taking this programme in the next three to four years. Another country that is interested in the Indian students for training in management education is France. At least 35 leading French universities and institutes will hold roadshows across India in November in an attempt to lure Indian students to the country. The exhibition, to be held from November, will visit Delhi, Mumbai, and Calcutta to enrol Indian students in top leading management institutes and top science universities and hotel management schools. If this trend continues,
the importance of Indian universities will be diluted.
Therefore, the AICTE must lay down that any foreign
university that desires to enrol Indian students must be
approved by the AICTE and accredited accordingly. This
will help the Indian universities become more competitive
and at the same time Indian students will get an
opportunity to serve in foreign companies with competence
and commitment. |
Slip-shod implementation of schemes DELAYS in commencement of new courses, shortage of staff, non-utilisation of budget, lack of laboratory equipment and irregular allotment of civil works reflect poorly on the implementation of the technical education programme in Punjab. The Union Government formulated a National Policy on Education (NPE) which included a 10-year technical education investment programme (1990-1999) for the upgradation of the technical education and training system. The main contents of the programme were to support the national polytechnic system. The International Development Authority (IDA) agreed in 1991 to finance the scheme as “second technical education project” in eight states, including Punjab, which was introduced in January, 1992. The project had three objectives — to expand the capacity of selected polytechnics, improve the quality of polytechnics and improve the efficiency of management and operation of the polytechnic system at the state level. These objectives were sought to be achieved through opening new polytechnics, introduction of programmes in new and emerging technologies and extending the scheme to women and the rural sector, improvement in quality by strengthening education and training of teachers, modernising laboratories and workshops and strengthening the administration and management of the state Directorate and Boards. The project cost, originally approved for Rs 79.48 crore, was revised in 1996 to Rs 94.10 crore and again in September, 1997, to Rs 110 crore. Against the budget provisions of Rs 105.61 crore, the expenditure incurred during 1991-98 was Rs 76.79 crore. The shortfall in utilisation of funds, which ranged between nine and 64 per cent, was attributed by the state project implementation unit (SPIU) to non-filling of posts sanctioned under the project and poor performance in procurement of machinery and equipment (M&E) by central agencies. However, the audit reveals that against the provision of 341 faculty staff, the demand for filling 183 posts has not yet been sent to the Punjab Public Service Commission and submission of demand for 158 posts has been delayed by two to seven years. The SPIU has not maintained any record relating to the demand and receipt of M & E nor did it pursue the same with central agencies. Further, the SPIU has not prepared an action plan as stipulated by the IDA for the years 1991-98. This points at the lack of seriousness in the implementation of the project. A delay of 12-24 months in preferring the reimbursement claims to the IDA resulted in loss of interest amounting to Rs 4.50 crore. As per the project report, 63 civil works pertaining to buildings meant for use by three new polytechnics for women, 14 existing polytechnics and one for the directorate office were to be completed by December, 1993. Sixty out of 63 civil works were completed after a delay of five-52 months, resulting in cost escalation. A hostel building constructed at Ferozepore in 1995 at a cost of Rs 85.30 lakh could not be put to use due to non-construction of approach road to the hostel. Canteen, fire-fighting system and lifts provided in the directorate office building at a cost of Rs 54.55 lakh have remained unutilised for the past two years. As per the report, 15 new diploma courses in 11 existing polytechnics (10 courses) and three new polytechnics for women (five diploma courses in each) were to be started in 1992-93. However, courses were started by the department between 1994-95 and 1996-97, after a delay of two to four years. The delay occurred due to failure of the department to arrange timely completion of buildings and infrastructure such as machinery and equipment and recruit the required number of teachers. Thus, 1350 trainees (intake number for these courses) were deprived of the benefit of desired skills in new technology. Under the continuing education programme, five education centres were to be set up in five polytechincs for persons already engaged in the industry to enable them to acquire additional knowledge skills in their trade. However, these education centres have neither been established nor evening classes or correspondence courses started. The principal of Government Polytechnic, Batala, intimated that courses could not be started due to shortage of staff. The principal of Punjab Institute of Textiles Technology, Amritsar, stated that adequate number of students were not available. This indicates the failure of the department to make an appropriate survey before approval of the scheme. With a view to modernising all polytechnics and to cope with new syllabi, the project envisage, according to the audit, to replace supplement augment equipment and machinery in existing laboratories/workshops in 1992-94. Though 139 laboratories were to be modernised, equipment required for modernisation was provided to the extent of only 38 per cent as of January, 1998. This adversely affected the training of students. The shortfall in modernisation of laboratories was due to failure of the department to procure the requisite machinery and equipment in time. The department attributed it to lengthy procurement procedures adopted by the central agencies. The audit does not agree with this contention because the department has not even identified the obsolete machinery and out of the total required machinery costing Rs 32 crore, the department has not even indented the machinery worth Rs 7.86 crore to be procured through central agencies (Rs 4 crore) and by the state (Rs 3.86 crore). A building for conducting classes in diploma in medical laboratory technology (MLT) was constructed in October, 1994 at Government Polytechnic, Amritsar. Later, considering that diploma in MLT did not have much employment opportunities, the diploma in production engineering was started. The workshop equipment valuing Rs 3.27 lakh procured between June, 1993, and March, 1995, for diploma in production engineering could not be installed (March, 1998) due to space shortage. A universal testing machine valuing Rs 3.06 lakh received by Government Polytechnic for Women, Ludhiana, in December, 1997 for computer diploma has not been installed as the syllabi of the subject concern has changed and the machine has become redundant. Additional staff was required for new courses. However, officials sources stated that the posts could not be filled due to the ban imposed by the Election Commission between December, 1997, and March, 1998 . As many as 146 candidates had been issued appointment letters in April, 1998. But the argument does
not hold ground as even before the imposition of the EC
ban, adequate staff was not provided and the appointment
letters issued in April were mostly renewal of
appointments of staff already employed on a contract
basis. |
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PAU
comes alive LUDHIANA: The Punjab Agricultural University campus reverberated with incessant jubilation during the 12th Prof S.N. Kakkar Memorial Youth Festival held here from November 4 to November 6. The first day dawned with the campus streets abuzz with activity. Various teams of constituent colleges of the university held a cultural procession. The festival was inaugurated by the first woman Senior Superintendent of Police, Ludhiana, Ms Gurpreet Deo, at the open-air theatre. The three-day festival saw commendable performances in music, dance and theatre. Folk song and folk dance competitions drew large crowds. On the final day of the festival, many students had already left for their homes for Divali holiday and the usual enthusiasm was lacking. The College of Basic Sciences and Humanities was presented the overall trophy for best performance in all events for the fourth consecutive time. The college also bagged the overall trophy for music and literary events. The trophy for dance went to the College of Veterinary Sciences. The College of Agriculture bagged the trophy for theatrical performance. * * * In order to promote excellence in various disciplines, the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities has formed the Society for Advancement of Academic, Sports and Cultural Activities (SAASCA). The society would promote and support co-curricular and socio-cultural activities, besides instituting awards for excellence in the fields of basic sciences and humanities. All faculty members of the college will be honorary members of the society and various department heads ex-officio members of the governing council. * * * Punjab Agricultural University has been sanctioned a Rs 15.70 lakh project by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) on “Development of adaptive IPM in rice-wheat system”. The project, sanctioned under the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) will look into the increased incidence of disease and insect infestation in the wheat-rice cropping pattern. The project will be jointly carried out by scientists of the departments of plant breeding, genetics and entomology. A two-day workshop on
“Sustainability of the rice-wheat system:
constraints and future sources of growth” was held
here recently. Agricultural economists from Punjab,
Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
participated. |
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Will I get an MBA degree once I graduate from the IIMs, XLRI or other management institutes? No matter whether you make it to the above-mentioned and/or other institutes, you will still be minus an MBA degree. Startled? Well, the fact is that all B-schools, including the six IIMs, cannot and do not confer an MBA degree. Actually, the IIMs bestow upon you a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA). XLRI confers the titles of Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations (PGDPM & IR) or the Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDBM). And the story remains ditto for the other management institutes. So where do you go for a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree? In India, only a university or a deemed university can confer the MBA degree, no other institute can do so. Thus, the Department or Faculty of Management Studies of a university alone can give you a degree which is usually the Master of Business Administration. In an attempt to stem the flagrant claims of fly-by-night-B-Schools falsely passing off their PG Diplomas in Management as equivalent to an MBA, AICTE has issued a notification announcing that only courses offered by the following institutes: IIMA, IIMB, IIMC, XLRI (BMD), XLRI (PMIR), IRMA, XISS, TAPMI, IIFM, SPJIMR, IMT and MDI are on par with MBA programmes. This, in turn, has raised a great many hackles both on the part of institutions and confusion on the part of MBA aspirants regarding the quality of courses offered by some of the other institutes. It also raises a number of piquant issues. For instance, should IIMA students feel privileged that their course is considered equivalent to an MBA offered by Kavikulguru Institute of Technology of Science, Ramtek or those at IIML feel depressed that their course is not benchmarked on par with that offered by Shri Vaishnav Institute of Management, Indore? However, as far as most employers are concerned, both MBA and PGDBA are interchangeable qualifications because it is usually believed that the skills these courses teach are more or less the same provided of course they are offered by premier institutions irrespective of whether they are affiliated to a university or not. Does it matter from where one qualifies — Isn’t a run-of-the-mill institute of management as good as any other. If the sole idea is to do ‘some MBA’ then it may make sense to go in for any run-of-the-mill institute, plenty of which have mushroomed all over, both in the metros and the smaller towns. If, however, the idea is to learn the art and science of management from a decent faculty, operating with a fairly rigorous curriculum, computer facilities, industry exposure and with a good job offer at the end, then your options get limited to the premier institutes, the second tier of institutes, a few universities which offer management studies, some upcoming institutes — and that’s it. Unfortunately, the current craze for management education has led to the mushrooming of a very large number of inferior institutes seeking to cash in on the young people’s desperation to find employment and earn a living. Even where a newly-opened institute has fewer mercenary intentions, its students have to face uphill competition in the job market from alumni of better-known B-schools. The reputation of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University or Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Science (JBIMS) was not built overnight. IIMA has been around since ’61, XLRI recently celebrated its golden jubilee, and JBIMS has been in existence for nearly twenty-five years. Therefore, it does matter where you qualify from. Your subsequent entry into the corporate world, the company that employs you, your compensation and other benefits depend on the institution you qualify from. Can I succeed in the corporate world without an MBA? Some of the greatest success stories in the management world are of people without an MBA, of people without even formal education. The founders of several corporate houses and industrial empires have managed without formal management education, Sceptical? Well, here goes — Bill Gates, the late, legendary J.R.D. Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, reportedly India’s first genuine billionaire, the absolutely dynamic Rita Singh (still want more names?) etc. Having said that, in the arena of employment opportunities a formal management education does give you a head-start over an arts, commerce or engineering graduate. Of course, a technical job demands technical expertise which could be scientific, pharmaceutical, medical or related to engineering. Management education
shortens your journey to the destination of success as a
manager, serving and leading in an organisation,
operating as an entrepreneur, or simply learning and
growing as a person. It has tremendous intrinsic worth as
a qualification and a very wide acceptance as a
professional qualification. |
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Architecture School of Architecture & Planning, Apeejay Instt of Technology, 1, Institutional Area, Surajpur-Kasna Rd, PO: Tughalpur, Greater Noida 201306 (UP) Ph: 0118-56602, 566023 Fx: 566019. E-mail: agnd@ndf.vsnl.net.in 1, BArch Elig: 10+2 and Scores in UPSEAT-99 Appln Form: Contact above address Banking Dec 11 Banking Service Recruitment Board, E-2/24, Area Colony, Bhopal. 462016 (MP) * Written Exam for “Probationary Officer” in Central Bank of India. Elig: Bachelor’s degree or equiv Appln Format: See Employment News of 6.11.99. Computers Nov 12 CMC Ltd, A-5, Ring Rd, NDSE, Part-1, New Delhi 110049 Ph: 4623202. 4623111-5 Fx: 4643913 * PG Dip in Computer Appl (PGDCA) (6 mths FT, 1-yr PT) Elig: Bachelor’s Degree Appln Form: Contact above address. N+ov 22 Vellore Engineering College, Vellore-632014 (TN) Ph: 0416-243091/93 Fx: 243092. E-mail: principal@admin.vec.ac.in * ME (Computer Sc Engg) Elig: BE/BTech/AMIE in: Computer Sc & Engg/Elec/Electron/Elec & Electron/Electron & Commn/Electron & Instru/Instru & Control/Info Tech Appln Form: Send DD for Rs 200/- favouring “Vellore Engineering College” payable at Vellore. Engineering Nov 30 Indira Gandhi Memorial Institute of Engineering & Tech, 51, Indira Nagar, PO New Forest, Dehradun 248006 Ph: 0135-620599 * Diploma/Degree in Mechanical/Electronics Engg * Bachelor’s in Aeronautical Engg. Elig: HSC/10+2 (PCM) * Appln Procedure: Send Rs 200/- by DD favouring “Secretary IIET” payable at Dehradun. Also available at counter for Rs 200/- in cash. Govt jobs Nov 19 Staff Selection Commission, Post Bag No. 7, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110003. * Combined Main (Graduate Level) Examination to fill up Inspector’s posts in Central Excise, Income Tax, Custom Houses, Asst. Enforcement Officers, Examiner (Ordinary Grade), Sub-inspectors in CBI, BSF, CRPF, CISF & ITBP, Div. Accountants/Auditors/Junior Accountants /UDCs in Central Govt Departments. Elig: Bachelor’s degree in equiv Elig, Appln Format: See Employment News dated 30 Oct-06 Nov ‘99. Management Jan 08 Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Post Box No. 12, BHEL Complex, Tiruchirappalli 620014. Ph: 0431-552796 Fx: 552733 * MBA (2-yr, FT, residential). Elig: * Bachelor’s/Master’s (50% agg.) Selection Procedure: Admission Test on 30 Jan, ‘99 at B’lore, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Madurai, New Delhi, Secn’bad and Tiruchirappalli. Appln Form: Send Rs 700/- (Rs 350/- for SC/ST along with certificate) by crossed DD drawn on any nationalised bank favouring “Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli” payable at Tiruchirappalli”, along with two typed self-addressed slips (9 x 6 cm) mentioning the choice of test centre in bold letters to Prof M.Sankaran, Admissions Chairman, marking “MBA Admission” the envelope. Also in cash at counter. Dec 31 Instt of Management Science, (Shri Ram Murti Smarak College of Engg. & Tech), Bareilly 243001 * PG Dip in Mgmt (2-yr FT) * PG Dip in Hospital Mgmt (2-yr) Elig: Bachelor’s Degree (50% agg). Scores in MAT to be held in Dec. Appln Form: Send Rs 375/- by DD favouring “IMS, SRMSCET, Bareilly”, Also available for Rs 350/- in cash at counter. Dec 15 Instt for Technology & Management, IME Bldg, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai 410210 Ph: 7905001/02 Fx: 7905001. E-mail: itmbom2@bom3.vsnl.net.in * PG Diploma in Business Admin At: Navi Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai & Warangal Elig: Bachelor’s/Dip Selection Procedure: CAT scores, GD, interview and exp. Appln Form: Send Rs 500/- by DD favouring “Institute for Technology & Management” payable at Mumbai to the Chairman-Admissions Medicine Nov 30 Nizam’s Instt of Medical Sciences, Punjagutta, Hyderabad 500082 * PhD Biochem/Microbiol/neurology/nephorol/pharmacol/pathology * Post Doctoral Training Certificate (1-yr) Cardiac & Neuroanaesthesia/Newer Imaging Modalities * Fellowship (1-yr) Plastic Surgery Vascular Surgery/Surgical Gastroenterology/Surgical Oncology * Diploma in Cardiology (2 yrs) * Fellowship in Critical Care Medicine (1½ yrs) Elig, Appln Form: Send Rs 250/- by DD favouring “Director, NIMS” payable at Hyderabad to the Executive Registrar, NIMS at above address. Also Rs 250/- in cash at counter. Para-medical Rajendra School of Nursing, Dabwali Rd, Sirsa 125055 Ph: 01666-31177, 25050 * Diploma in General Nursing & Midwifery (3-yr FT) Elig: Girls with 10+2 (50% agg. 35% for SC/BC) Age: 17-35 yrs Appln Form: Available at counter for Rs 200/- in cash. PhD Nov 30 Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Ph: 0161-401960 Ext. 286. PhD in: 1. College of Agriculture 2. College of Basic Sc & Humanities 3. College of Veterinary Sc 4. College of Home Sc 5. College of Agri Engg Selection: Interviews in Pal Auditorium at above address: for 1): Dec 12 (9.30 am) for 2): Dec 14 (9.30 am) for 3): Dec 15 (9.30 am) for 4): Dec 15 (11.30 am) for 5): Dec 15 (3.00 pm) Elig: * OCPA of 7.00 or equiv in Master’s and 5.50 or equiv in Bachelor’s (6.5 & 5.50 for Inservice candidates) Appln Form: Send Rs 300/- by DD favouring “Additional Director of Extension Education (Communication Centre), Punjab Agricultural University” payable at Ludhiana. Also for Rs 250/- in cash at counter. Railways Nov 22 Railway Recruitment Board, DRM’s Annexe Bldg., Nawab Yusuf Road Allahabad 211001. * Entrance Test for Vocational Course in Railway Commercial (2-yr FT job-linked course) Elig, Appln Format: See Employment News of 23.10.99. CARING (Career
Information & Guidance), New Delhi |
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Education for profit Businessmen like Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and Lamar Alexander, former presidential candidate and Governor of Tennessee, are moving into the for-profit education business, bringing with them a significant amount of investment dollars, reports The New York Times. They say they will transform large portions of the fragmented, cottage industry of independent, non-profit institutions into a consolidated, professionally managed, money-making set of businesses that include all levels of education. While the for-profit education business has been evolving for several years, with the establishment of Cristopher C. Whittle’s Edison Schools and the University of Phoenix’s college for working adults, the transformation is now occurring on a far larger scale. The dissatisfaction with public schools and the demands of the economy are fuelling an influx of billions of dollars from corporations, pension funds and the general public into for-profit educational ventures. For-profit companies are setting up law schools and new elementary schools, training factory employees to use computers and taking over the operations of existing middle and high schools. Resources on Asia The Asia Society has launched AsiaSource.org (http://www.asiasource.org), a website that is the “gateway to the most up-to-date, reliable and valuable information and news on everything to do with Asia,” according to a press note. A non-profit, non-partisan educational institution, the Asia Society is the leading US institution dedicated to fostering public understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. The resources available to users of AsiaSource are organised into four major content areas: (1) arts and culture; (2) business and economics; (3) policy and government; and (4) society and history. Services currently available on the site include a daily digest of top news stories appearing in major international news sources with special reports on timely subjects and upcoming events, a searchable database of Asia-related events happening around the world by date and location, a database of specialists on Asian history, arts, and society, maps and statistical information on all Asian countries and multiple research resources. Curry school A university is
launching the UK’s first curry academy. The Academy
of Asian Culinary Arts (AACA) at Thames Valley University
is aimed at keeping the skills of Asian cooking alive,
according to a BBC report. It provides training for
people of all ages, offering those working in the
industry a chance to improve their skills in both cooking
and serving food. Celebrity chefs give demonstrations at
the academy, which also provides in-house training for
restaurants, and offers a certificate and diploma in
Asian food preparation and cooking. The academy was set
up in response to skills shortages in the South Asian
culinary industry. Curry can now claim to be the
UK’s national dish. — K.S.B. |
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