More foreign students line up for ISI seats

KNOW YOUR INSTITUTE: INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) at Calcutta, one of the most renowned institutes in the country, has seen demand for seats from overseas students growing steadily.

The foreign students are trained at ISI's International Statistical Education Centre (ISEC), which handed over its statistical training diploma' to around 11 overseas trainees in the city.

ISEC is operated jointly by the International Statistical Institute, Netherlands and ISI under the auspices of UNESCO and government of India. The certificates went to candidates of the 58th batch of the course at a convocation function.

"The 58th batch had 11 successful students from seven countries - Tonga, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Ivory Coast and Thailand," said M Pal, member secretary, board of directors, ISEC.

Seven out of the 11 successful candidates were awarded fellowship by the GoI under the technical co-operation scheme of the Colombo Plan.

Four trainees received grant from India Technical and Economic Co-operation (ITEC) or Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan (SCAAP).

The centre teaches a 10-month course in statistics to around 1389 students coming from around 65 countries across the globe.

Apart from the regular course, the candidates were also involved in special course on 'Household poverty survey and analysis' and had interaction with non-government organisations.

Coming mostly from statistical departments of foreign governments, the students have developed new skills through the course.