Bilateral cooperation between Indian and Kazakh higher education institutions has taken one more step forward with a student exchange agreement being inked between Amity University, Noida, and the Almaty-based Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNu).
Elaborating on the agreement, the Rector of KazNU, G.M. Mutanov, told ANI in an exclusive interview held on the sidelines of the celebration of the Kazakh national holiday of 'Nowruz' here on Saturday, that the aim of the agreement was to create "necessary conditions not only for a greater exchange of undergraduate and graduate students, but also to deepen theoretical and practical knowledge, and conduct research projects in areas of mutual interest."
He also said there was proposal for an academic exchange of experts, an exchange of experience at the organizational and training level, besides promotion of joint research.
Emphasizing that the intention behind the visit was to lay the foundation of university-level cooperation and to familiarize Indian society with the national traditions and culture of Kazakhstan, Mr. Mutanov said, "After this event (visit to Amity University), we are planning to visit two more universities like the Indian Institute of Technology and Delhi University, and also to meet with the representatives of the Indian University Confederation and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD)."
"We understand that many people all over the world are now interested in Kazakhstan, and that's why, I think, our visit will give some input about Kazakhstan," he added.
"This visit also gives us an opportunity to make some international advertisement of our country, particularly its traditions and culture," Mr. Mutanov said.
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On what specific areas of higher education study could be targeted and concentrated upon, he said engineering, information technology and pharmaceutical studies.
"India has achieved great results in IT development. So far, the Kazakh National University has stressed upon developing engineering as a specialty. Two years ago, we signed a contract that launched the Kazakh-Indian-American project on training and retraining of staff in engineering and information technology. We are providing several programs for training and retraining. However, we think that we have to and can enlarge the number of specialties," Mr. Mutanov said.
He also informed that KazNU has a very strong relationship with the New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, and added that there were exchange programs for both professors and students.
"I can say that we have several Indian students who are studying in different departments of KazNu according to their research interests. Of course, we are waiting to increase this. Presently, it is not a large group of students, just a few people studying ther," he added.
He was candid in admitting that there was scope for enlarging the level of cooperation between institutions of higher learning.
He said that the focus of the agreement with Amity University was to increase the academic mobility of both students and professors; to develop joint research programs and to launch an in-campus centre representative of Amity University in Kazakhstan and vice versa.
He said that another direction that KazNu is actively pursuing is the humanitarian direction.
"We are very proud to develop a school of language. We think that it would be fruitful to start such a school of languages for Indian students," Mr. Mutanov said.
He also said that subjects like technology, space and research were other areas of interest for KazNu.
"Kazakh National University has specialized department for Indian studies. In the future, this department will be the foundation for cooperation between Indian universities and the Kazakh National University," he added.
On March 21, the KazNu delegation took part in Nowruz celebrations organized by Central Asian embassies, Afghanistan and Iran. Apart from a display and promotion of national costumes, music, songs and dances, each of the eight countries of the region offered and served their respective national cuisines.
The Nowruz festival symbolizes the revival of spring, love, abundance of harvest and friendship. This year, the festival is being celebrated for five days (March 21 to 25).
KazNu was created by decree on November 13, 1933 and established on January 15, 1934. It underwent a change of name in 1990 and was declared a national university in 2001. The university has 14 faculties of study, 98 departments, over 100 academicians, over 2500 faculty members and more than 20000 students (16000 undergraduates and 4000 post-graduates).
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