University of Pune (UoP) to open campus in RAK

The announcement was made at a function held at the Al Dhet Palace here Thursday evening in the presence of His Highness Shaikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, Indian Consul General, Venu Rajamony, and top officials from University of Pune and Edulink Consultants, a Dubai-based education consultancy firm that facilitated the setup of the globally-recognized Indian higher education institution in RAK.

Speaking on the occasion, Shaikh Saud said, “We are living in the age of Knowledge Society, where a country is recognised based on its knowledge base and how it organises its human resources. The Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah greatly values the development of its human potential and is committed to make the emirate a hub for higher education in the region”.

”We are pleased to welcome the UoP to Ras al Khaimah. UoP will offer new and exciting academic opportunities for both residents of the UAE and overseas students,” Sheikh Saud added.

The University of Pune has been awarded five star rating, the highest grade by the independent National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) of India; and was also honoured by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as a University with Potential for Excellence. UoP currently has around 650,000 students studying on its parent campus and affiliated colleges and has the highest number of international students among higher education institutions in India.

The RAK campus of the University will offer undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate courses, and is currently accepting applications and registrations in time for the opening on March 2009 for post-graduate level, and in September later this year for undergraduate and other post-graduate courses.

The UoP campus will initially operate from a location in Al Burairat area near the George Mason University Campus and will eventually move to its own buildings in the planned education city that will come up in RAK.

”University of Pune’s entry into the UAE, specifically in Ras Al Khaimah will help boost the education sector in the country, and ultimately the economy by producing competent and skilled individuals,” said Misho Ravic, CEO of Edulink. He added that courses offered by the UoP will be very competitive, in terms of content, delivery, accreditation and value and special arrangements will be made for students from other Emirates.

Dr Narendra Jadhav, Vice Chancellor, University of Pune, said that setting up of a branch campus in the UAE was a key milestone for the University. “University of Pune is well known both in India and globally. The University will bring a distinct advantage with its traditions of excellence. This will also be first time where the university will be directly teaching all programs at the branch campus.” The Vice Chancellor said that the University will start offering its flagship two year, full-time MBA++ programme in September 2009, along with a range of other Bachelor’s and Master’s Programmes in sciences, management, engineering, commerce, pharmacy and other subjects.

He said that the MBA++ programme, designed by the University will be unique for its dual specialization, whereby students will take one subject from the functional list and another from the sectoral list for specialization. The sectoral specialization would include sectors like Retail, IT, Biotechnology, Banking and Insurance, among others.

”Apart from the regular academic programmes, the University will start an MBA and an Executive MBA programme for working professionals in March 2009 which will be offered through evening and weekend classes. We will also commence in March 2009, another programme in ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services), which will have a 70 percent online component,” Riaz Bava, Managing Director of Edulink Consultants, said.