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Online education provider GlobalNxt University is planning a host of courses to meet the increasing demand of the web-based education platform. These would include new undergraduate, post-graduate and doctorate programmes, to be offered online.
"We will offer a doctorate in business administration from August this year. To start with, we plan to have 20 students," said Wing Lam, dean, GlobalNxt University.
Apart from this course, the dean said they also wanted to develop programmes, including a Bachelors in Business Administration, and were looking to offer a Masters in Education at the School of Education from early 2014.
GlobalNxt University is also planning, within the next few quarters, to enter the teacher training space by offering courses in this field. Further, a School for Public Policy and courses in healthcare management are also on the anvil at the online university, according to the dean.
Lam also explained that though the programmes were online, offline alumni interactions across nations were being facilitated and supported by the university. "It is a myth that students enrolled in courses online do not get an opportunity to meet offline," he said.
The online education model is suitable for working professionals, as the current programmes do not offer the flexibility which such people need. The average age profile in these courses is 30-45 years. Wing Lam also added that apart from individuals themselves, corporates were also seeing the need for continuous education.
"In the last two to three years, online education has come into the mainstream and we are seeing a lot of universities getting into the online education model. But, it is a fact that the online model would complement the existing education system and would not replace the traditional education model," he said.
To cater to this population, GlobalNxt University will establish new schools in education, media and health sciences over the next three years. All degrees would be offered by GlobalNxt University.
GlobalNxt University (formerly known as Global e-University) achieved university status in 2012. Currently, the university offers courses including Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Postgraduate Diploma of Business Administration and Master of Science in Information Technology Management. The university also develops customised programmes for organisations to meet their specific talent and skill development requirements.
Similar to the other online programmes, students pursuing these courses are given the opportunity to complete the course at a pace with which they are comfortable. Hence, a course could be completed either in 18 months or three years, as per an individual's convenience.
GlobalNxt University is a part of Manipal Global Education Services (MaGE), an international higher education services provider, providing education and training services to over 3,00,000 students, from six universities and nine campuses across five countries.
GlobalNxt University is represented through its student population is from 72 countries. While the present focus is on Asia-Pacific nations, Lam said that they would also look at expanding to other continents.
"We are presently focusing on the APAC region. However, we will rollout programmes in other regions such as North America, South America and Europe in the near future," he said. Presently, India, West Asia, Malaysia and Singapore are one of the biggest markets for the university.
WEB OF LEARNING
- Besides introducing the doctorate in business administration programme in August this year, Global Nxt University plans to introduce courses like bachelor in business administration and masters in education from early 2014
- Though the programmes are online, offline alumni interactions across nations are facilitated and supported by the university
- The online education model is suitable for working professionals as it offers the flexibility which such people need
