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L.N. Revathy

COIMBATORE, Jan. 12

NOT long after signing of MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Nachimuthu Polytechnic and the Dr Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology (MCET), the Cambrian College of Applied Arts and Technology at Sudbury in Canada decided to tie up with the Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College of Arts and Science in Pollachi.

This tie-up between the institutions marks the beginning of a relationship with the Cambrian College establishing its presence in Tamil Nadu with not just technical institutions, but an arts and science college too, though all of them have been promoted by the Sakthi Group of Companies.

The agreement between the institutions is widespread and goes beyond the faculty and student exchange programme. It includes training of students, joint research activities and publication, exchange of academic and training programme and projects aimed at infusing the quality of learning.

Talking to Business Line, the President of the Cambrian College, Ms Sylvia Bernard, said the areas of commonality between the institutions helped in furthering their relationship. She pointed out that the students would now be able to take Canadian credentials by enrolling under any of the three options offered by the partners.

Explaining each of the options, she said a student enrolled in the four-year engineering degree programme or the three-year applied science or an engineering diploma programme `in Tamil Nadu' could register for the Cambrian College Instrumentation Engineering Technology (INTY) diploma at the MCET and graduate with an Indian degree and a diploma from the Cambrian College concurrently.

"The students can undergo the programme in Tamil Nadu itself," she emphasised. When asked why the focus was specific to INTY, Ms Bernard said her country could offer the expertise to cater to the growing demand (for such engineers) in India.

She hinted that there was synergy in other areas too such as Graphics and IT programmes, but were not discussed at present. "At a future date, may be," she said.

The second option was on similar lines, but the student could apply for a transfer to the Cambrian College in the final year for the one-year INTY diploma programme, she said and pointed out that if a candidate chose the third option, after successful completion of the INTY diploma, she or he could seek a transfer to the B.Tech Degree programme offered by the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB) in Nova Scotia, Canada, and take this credential too within 12-months, either at MCET or at the UCCB campus.

When asked how this would help, she said the Canadian credential would definitely help the student grab the opportunities abroad. She said jobs in the field of IT, instrumentation technology, health care, teaching, nursing etc were available in plenty. "It will not be difficult to gain an entry if you are skilled," she said.

Ms Bernard said that the average age of an industrial worker in Canada was 55 to 58 years. "Sixty per cent of these people will retire in the next five years, and there are very few technical hands in our country to bridge the gap. This credential would help the students find a job in Canada without much hassle," she said.

She observed that India was a `incredible country of contrasts' with one end equipped with the cutting edge technologies and nothing happening at the other.

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