BENGALURU: Government efforts to promote foreign language learning have begun to slide, and officials blame modifications such as trifurcation of the university for the change in the department’s popularity.
While Bangalore University was divided into three for better administration, the decision was implemented in the Center For Global Language, which has a reputation for being one of the largest global language centres in the country, in 2018. With the change, the centre shifted from under the jurisdiction of Bangalore University (Jnanabharathi Campus) to Bangalore Central University.
The number of student registrations went down from an average of 450 to 290 in 2018, department officials said. “Students were apprehensive about the changes in affiliations. They had doubts on the quality of education and the certificate they would receive from the new university,” they added.
However, Jyoti Venkatesh, the head of the centre, allayed these apprehensions. “The courses are recognised internationally, and are designed as per the common European framework. University certificates (as opposed to certificates from private centres) have a greater hold while applying for higher education abroad. Even MNCs in India prefer certificates from universities. All courses, from the basic four-month certificate course to the advanced diploma (which is on par with a Bachelor’s degree) have received clearances by the chancellor or the governor,” Venkatesh said.
For students who have completed at least second PUC, the centre offers French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Finnish, and Arabic languages for certificate one and two, and diploma one and two (each being a four-month course), and higher diploma and advanced diploma, which are eight-month courses.
After delay, BCU to begin conversational courses
As Japanese, German, French, Spanish and Chinese are being increasingly sought by students and working personnel, with almost all of the 30 seats getting filled up, the institute has begun conversational courses for the languages that cater to this niche category. After almost a four-year delay owing to trifurcation, the centre will start 40-hour conversational courses in Polish, Hebrew, Thai, Dutch and Finnish from this year. Taking a student-friendly approach, the department will have flexible timings to suit the students as well as the teachers.