Ball State University (BSU), Indiana, USA, in partnership with O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, India, has been awarded a grant from the US Department of State and U.S. Embassy, Kabul through the Regional Afghan Junior Faculty Development Program. The title of this US government-funded project is ‘Afghan Faculty Forum for Enrichment, Collaboration and Training (AFFECT)’. This program entails BSU hosting a cohort of Afghan junior faculty members for a 10-week professional development stint at JGU in India from January 2019 onward.  It will present trainees with an innovative, interactive forum for course development, student engagement, student-centered teaching, curriculum development, and English instruction, as well as providing insight into the American system of higher education.

Expected outcomes from this program include aiding participants in their professional development, acculturation to U.S. educational and cultural expectations, establishing opportunities for sustainable mentoring relationships, opportunities to audit U.S. style courses, and to aid participants in development of an action plan and academic product for implementation upon their return to Afghanistan.

The joint training of teachers from Afghanistan between BSU and JGU is expected to make a valuable contribution to nation-building of a strategically important country for the United States and India that is facing severe challenges of armed conflict and instability. The AFFECT program will also enhance academic cooperation between the US and India, two democratic partner countries which share common goals and aspirations.

JGU located at Sonipat, Haryana, India just outside New Delhi, is one of the best research-intensive social science universities in South Asia. Deeply committed to its core institutional values, the university has been awarded the highest grade ‘A’ by the National Accreditation & Assessment Council (NAAC) of India.

Speaking about this award, the Dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), Professor Sreeram Chaulia said: “The future of Afghanistan will be determined by not just the end of war and terrorism but also the quality of higher education that the country can offer to its youth. Development of Human Resources holds the key for stabilising Afghanistan’s in the medium to long terms. As an Indian university, JGU is proud to be part of this nation-building exercise for Afghanistan.”

The Vice Chancellor of JGU, Professor C. Raj Kumar added: “JGU has an excellent track record in capacity building of civil servants, civil society activists and corporate executives. We have also been training teachers and lecturers from within and outside India over the years. This prestigious US government-supported grant is a major affirmation of our motto of a ‘Private University Promoting Public Service”.

The Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) has set up a seven-member committee, under former IIT-Kanpur chairman M Anandkrishnan, to explore the feasibility of reducing Government’s control over the 23 IITs.

The committee also having directors of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) located in Kharagpur, Madras, Bombay, Delhi and Kanpur, is expected to submit its report in two months.

The committee is most likely to suggest changes in the composition of the Board of Governors (BoG) of IITs. As per Section 11 of the IIT Act, the board has nine members, all of whom are either directly or indirectly nominated by the government. In contrast, as per the new IIM Act, each IIM has 15 members of which five represent the institute’s alumni.

“Some of the best engineering schools abroad have bigger boards representing diverse voices and experience. They also have a strong alumni presence. The IIT boards are small and their composition is controlled by the government. There no room or provision for alumni either,” said a committee member.

In addition to that, the committee will also examine to empower the board to amend the institute’s statutes that govern day-to-day functioning. Currently, no amendment, repeal or addition to the statutes is possible without the approval of the President, who is the Visitor of all IITs.

It is also expected that the will also seek feedback from the IIMs on their experience under the new IIM Act before finalising its report. “We need to know if there are any lessons in there for us,” the above member added.