BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION DELEGATION CALLS ON VICE-CHANCELLOR PROF. SUDHIR KUMAR JAIN
TWO SIDES DISCUSS POSSIBLE AREAS OF COLLABORATION, TAKE BENEFIT OF EACH OTHER’S EXPERTISE AND SPECIALISATION
VARANASI: A delegation, led by Ms. Natalia Leigh, Head, Political & Bilateral Affairs, British High Commission New Delhi, called on the Vice Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain on Wednesday. The delegation comprised Ms. Beck Buckingham, OBE Minister Counsellor – Political, and Mr. Rajendra Tripathi, Head, Education Program and Partnerships, British Council India. During a meeting with the delegation, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Kumar Jain said that Banaras Hindu University is endeavoring to collaborate with global institutions to open new avenues of growth and development for its students and faculty. The Vice-Chancellor emphasized that BHU offers enormous opportunities for collaboration, given its strength and specialization in diverse areas. He underlined that the varsity holds a unique distinction in terms of the large range of areas of study and research it offers. Highlighting the importance of preparing students for life than just focusing on subject specific teaching, Prof. Jain said that BHU is leading by example in this direction. He also informed that the student well- being and leadership and life skills initiatives have been launched at the Faculty level, with the singular goal of holistic development of students. The efforts of the university to put in place a formal structure for the overall growth and benefit of students are yielding encouraging results.
The British delegation expressed its deep interest in partnering with Banaras Hindu University, referring it as one of the most prestigious and reputed universities of India. Members of the delegation listed several areas like environment, green energy, sustainable development, inter-disciplinary research, art and culture etc, where possible collaborations could take place. Ms. Natalia Leigh also desired that the two sides should explore the possibility of working together in areas like artificial intelligence which have huge potential in the future. Members of the delegation apprised about programs like Chevening Scholarship and SCOUT that are open to Indian students and scholars and urged the university to encourage its members to participate in them and benefit with promising opportunities.
The visiting delegation showed keen interest in knowing more about the Department of Hindi in the Faculty of Arts. Prof. Ashish Tripathi from the department briefed the delegation about the academic programs and research activities taking place in the department. Members of the delegation were curious to know about short term programs on Indian languages, art and culture.
The two sides discussed the scope of leadership development programs for BHU teachers by British educational institutions and on possibilities of student and faculty exchange and agreed to explore the same further.
Registrar Prof. Arun Kumar Singh, Prof. S. V. S. Raju, Coordinator, International Students, Prof. Rajesh Singh, Associate Coordinator, International Centre, and Prof. Madhu Tapadia, Coordinator, Global Initiatives of Academic Networks, were also present during the interaction.