Over the next year, faculty from prestigious institutions of over 30 nations will visit India and deliver over 350 specialised courses as the government today launched the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) programme.
The initiative was launched by Human Resource Development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani at the IIT here, as two courses - one at IIT Gandhinagar and the other at IIT Kharagpur - also commenced.
While a course on '3D Digitization for Cultural Heritage' was taken by Professor Marco Callieri, Visual Computing Lab, ISTI-CNR, Italy, at IIT Gandhinagar, Professor Nico Verdonschot, faculty of Radboud University Medical Center Nijmege, University of Twente, Netherlands, took a course on Orthopaedic Biomechanics: Implants and Biomaterials, at IIT Kharagpur.
In the weeks and months to come, the academic interface will enlarge as faculty from 38 countries are presently scheduled to deliver courses, including 46 academics from the USA, 9 from the UK, 6 each from Germany and Australia, and 2 from Israel.
The list of countries includes Russia, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Portrugal, Netherlands, Malaysia and South Korea. This remarkable array of academicians will span 13 disciplines and 352 courses to be taught in 68 national institutions, an official statement released here said.
The courses vary in duration from 1 week to 3 weeks depending on the subject and are free for students from the host institution, at nominal charges for others and webcast live as well. Webcasting will allow students across the country to benefit, in real time, providing access to high quality educational content.
Speaking at the launch of GIAN, Irani said this initiative brings into practice the belief of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam'. She said this vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been translated into action within a year, which is a reflection of the teamwork between HRD Ministry and institutions of higher learning.
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"While our Prime Minister has given clarion call of Make In India, GIAN is our effort to tell the world "Come, Teach In India," she said.
These lectures would be made available later to students across the country through SWAYAM, a MOOCs platform and the National Digital Library, she said.
Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama thanked Irani for choosing IIT-Gn to launch GIAN Scheme. He also informed the gathering that Irani had given in-principle approval to IIIT in Surat.
