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French connection & higher education

Cultural confines have become passé in the field of education.

French connection & higher education

A student of animation at the Gobelins l'ecole de image, Paris, a college of visual arts



Vandana Shukla

Cultural confines have become passé in the field of education. In the past, education was tailored to meet specific cultural and sociological demands. Under the pressure of globalisation, it has to cater to multiple cultures and a globally floating population that seeks to translate educational experience into a well-paid work opportunity.

Top-ranking universities and institutions of higher education in France to meet these challenges have introduced subject areas that address concerns of the countries of the “developing world”, where growing economies are changing demand-and-supply patterns. These courses attract students to France to pursue cutting-edge research and specialisation.

France in not the first choice for over 200,000 Indian students who annually migrate overseas for higher education, mostly to English-speaking regions. France at the tenth rung, is lower than even Germany due to the inability to speak the French. French universities are gearing up to remove this hurdle. Since 2000, universities in France have introduced 1,100 postgraduate programmes in English that cover the niche areas of study and research, of interest to Indian students; like aerospace, nuclear energy, nuclear-waste management, marine engineering, management of global brands in developing markets, and sustainable development. 

Higher education is highly subsidised in France, unless a student prefers to go to a private university she does not pay the tuition fee. Health insurance is almost free, students pay only 20 euro per annum to get complete health care and house rent is reimbursed up to 40 per cent for all students, irrespective of  nationality. University canteens offer subsidised food. Higher education is almost three times cheaper as compared to other destinations. After overcoming the initial reluctance to use “education” and “market” in the same sentence, the French education system was allowed to use English to attract global students. In 2000, Campus France was launched on the lines of the British Council to internationalise higher education. It has 10 offices in India, mostly in grade B and C cities, where information access is rather slow despite a rich talent pool. 

Unlike other European countries, the French government has not cut its grants on education. Scholarship programmes go uninterrupted; of the 13,000 scholarships available for higher studies, only 350 are claimed by Indian students,  valued at 1.1 million euros.  The universities want more Indian technocrats to come to study in France because, as they put it, Indian techno-schools offer sound theoretical knowledge while their polytechnics, as the engineering schools are known, offer cutting-edge infrastructure in research and development. Combined, the two can offer solutions to major challenges the  world is confronting — like the need for alternative energy resources, robotics and nuclear waste management, to name a few. At ALLIANCE (Association of Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Audencia Nantes and ENSA Nantes), several Indian students are making use of the highly sophisticated laboratories in marine engineering, robotics and aerospace. Most students are from IITs and NITs, they appreciate the “practical” work in the labs, based on the theories they had studied back home. Industries from the EU give their problems to Centrale, for the students to find long-term solutions. It results in a great research opportunity, applicable to industry and is an enriching experience.      

The French Forum of Higher Education is working towards  forging collaborations with Indian universities to offer double-degree programmes at the masters and PhD  level, to attract higher employability in the international job market. They have also opened campuses in other countries, in India, Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Hyderabad, is the sole example of such collaboration. Existing collaborations with IITs, NITs, Anna University, University of Delhi etc with ALLIANCE, and UPES (University of Petroleum and Energy Studies) Dehradun's collaboration with Ecole nationale superieure des Mines de Nantes, has benefited hundreds of Indian students. 

Governments of both the countries have been working out solutions to check brain-drain from India. A majority of students who study abroad tend to prefer to work abroad.  Therefore, industrial partners in EU have ensured top-ranking jobs in India for the alumni of the top- ranking universities of France. More than a few hundred companies from France and other countries of the EU have their businesses in India. Under the Make in India programme, they are encouraged to bring production units to India for higher job creation.    

Getting admission in the reputed universities of France depends on high scores in GRE and GMAT but more than the score preference is given to the quality of research projects and clarity of vision drafted by the student. The pedagogy is not water-tight, nor is it controlled. Professors, whose selection is based on intense research and academic background, are free to adopt their own pedagogy. The teacher-student relationship is informal. 

Though medium of instruction is English at masters' level and above, foreign students are given free hours of  lessons in French for better cultural assimilation. Apprenticeship programmes for foreign students mandate a workable knowledge of the French language.   In a mentorship programme for foreign students; a foreign student is adopted by a French family to help her absorb a new culture.           

French universities are also struggling to manage a higher ranking in global ranking lists like Times Higher Education and QS, primarily designed to suit the American higher-education system. “Diverse systems of education are fitting into a certain format, it's unfortunate because we are compromising our unique strengths to fit in. But in the absence of a high ranking, we lose out on the international students,” comments a professor from Paris Diderot University. To get higher ranking in the global listing, several universities have come together to build consortiums. Paris Diderot University has introduced a system, which brings scientific, humanities and professional programmes under one umbrella, eight universities have come together and offer such subjects of study like history of philosophy of science and psychoanalysis, along with mathematics and science. Ditto is the case with ESTACA, Paris, known for its super specialisation in automobile and aeronautics. 

Engineering schools are also combining soft-skill programmes in their courses “so that engineers and managers know each others' mind well,” says Frederic Dorel, Director, Department of Communication, foreign languages and corporate cultures, Centrale Nantes. The ESSEC, Paris, has students from 80 different nationalities on its campus, every third student is a foreigner taught by faculty from 34 countries. This exposure helps in devloping an understanding of diverse corporate cultures. 

With 176 partner universities, they offer programmes in management, ranging from BBA to executive training and several double-degree programmes in collaboration with the IIMs in India. From international luxury brand management, hotel and luxury management, to management of art galleries and museums, the range is vast. The strength of ESSEC lies in involving their 47,000-strong alumni base that helps in creating new entrepreneurs, globally.    To facilitate professional Indian students in France, this April, students were allowed two years' residence visa in France, after completing their Master's degree, provided they had managed to get a job in France. 

The writer recently visited France. [email protected]

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