KOCHI: The University of Michigan-Flint in the United States is in talks with three colleges in Kerala - including Baselius College, Kottayam - for possible collaborations, such as student exchange programmes.
The director of the university’s Centre for Global Engagement, Zachariah Mathew, told TNIE that global universities find immense scope in the high-calibre academic space of Kerala.
“What we primarily look up to is the integration of curriculums in the universities here to the varsities abroad,” said Mathew, who is in Kochi to attend the higher education conclave at Cusat.
“Many academic curriculums in Kerala are of high calibre, like medicine, public health administration, ecology and sustainability studies, etc, for example. We can definitely bring short-term students from abroad here to courses like these and similarly make a space for the faculty here to engage in these exchanges abroad as well.”
Since taking over the chair at Michigan-Flint, he has initiated talks with three colleges in Kerala for possible collaborations, Mathew said.
“I am a person who migrated from Kerala 25 years ago because of the lack of opportunities here. But now the scenario is changing,” he said.
Kerala has been facing the issue of huge numbers of students flocking to foreign universities in recent times. Mathew said the ‘Study in Kerala’ initiative by the government would indeed be a solution to this problem, to a certain extent.
“Students move out of Kerala mainly for the experience, not solely for education. Here we do not have much cultural integration and exposure as we have in universities abroad. Now the government here is creating a space for that,” Mathew said.