Rise in UK-India educational collaborations

What's on agenda on your current stint with India? 
I want to collaborate with India in different areas like Arts, Science and Education. It is time to refresh and recreate UK as an educational option for Indian students who aspire quality education. Refresh their knowledge about studying avenues across UK and secure the scholarships that we exclusively offer to Indian students. To keep two countries in constant contact mobility of young people is a crucial aspect. And this needs to be a two way street. Hence, under the Generation UK programme, we look forward to bringing young British students and professionals to India. The young Britishers will get to witness 21^st century India. In the next five years, we aim to bring 25,000 youngsters to the country. They will take on internships or summer classes with our partner companies and education institutes respectively.

Please tell us about British Council's new scholarships for Indian students?
We have on offer 401 part scholarship awards worth 1.51 million pounds (approx Rs 151 million) for courses ranging from engineering, bioscience, law and business to art and design. Over 57 UK institutions across England, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are participating in this programme. Scholarships are tenable for September 2015 and January 2016 intakes.

IELTS completes 25 years of testing students for their knoweledge of English. Comment.
It is equipped to test not only language skills but also academic rigor of a student who seeks foreign education. Due to its validity, countries like Singapore and US, besides UK and Australia also accept IELTS scores. Someone with a band score of 6.5 does prove that he/ she has a comprehensive and exhaustive knowledge needed to take on further studies.

How do MOOCs bridge the learning gap? How many UK univerisites offer them?
MOOCs serve as an ideal platform to put inclusive and affordable education in practice. With the widespread online digital exposure in India and other countries, it makes it easy to secure education free of cost. British Council's Future Learn portal offers short courses in physics, psychology, information technology, history, ecology or marketing. Over 20 Universities of the UK have partnered to offer these free courses.

What is the BloodHound SSC Car project?
It is a supersonic car developed by engineers from 12 Universities in the UK. It is our way of demonstrating our manufacturing, science and technology prowess to the world. Through Bloodhound, which can be driven only by a fighter pilot, we also seek to inspire younger generations to pursue higher education opportunities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) courses and careers.

How are Indian students different in comparison to those from other countries?
Indian students are aspirational in their academic vision. Parents also encourage and are deeply involved in the their child's education. They are skilled in langagues and take a keen interest in higher education. UK and India have common culture and rich history, this helps us to connect well with Indian students.