Griffith University™s Gold Coast City (Australia) campus is in the final stages of a A$500 million (Rs.2,773 crore) construction programme. The construction of tennis, basketball and beach volleyball courts, a $20 million extension to the campus library, and a new $150 million Griffith Health Centre, have been completed. A $37 million Business Building which includes a fully-operational mock trading room is scheduled to be inaugurated in mid-2014.
The new Griffith Health Centre and contiguously located A$1.76 billion (Rs. 9,762 crore) Gold Coast University Hospital constitute the core of the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct. This world-class medical teaching and research facility brings all of Griffith™s health programmes under one roof.
With the 2018 Commonwealth Games scheduled to be hosted by Gold Coast City (pop. 525,000), Griffith is well-placed to become an epicentre of the games, with the 29.4 hectare Commonwealth Games Village currently under construction opposite Gold Coast City campus. œThe games will enhance what is already a vibrant multicultural community on the Gold Coast and will provide our sports and event management students with a unique opportunity to experience the industry first-hand, says a Griffith University spokesperson.
AIC-UoM concordat
The Singapore-based Asian International College (AIC), which recently entered the early childhood education (ECE) teacher-training space in India, has signed a high-potential collaboration agreement with the University of Melbourne (UoM), Australia. Under the terms of the agreement inked on April 23, UoM and AIC will jointly train ECE teachers to teach the primary years programme (PYP) of the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).
The year-long course will equip teachers to impart the IB (PYP) curriculum to three-12 year-olds and will be conducted by UoM faculty in partnership with AIC. The first batch of teachers in Singapore will start receiving in-service training on a part-time basis in July. At the end of one year, trainee teachers will be awarded an IB-PYP postgraduate diploma. œThis qualification is like an MBA, so teachers who have it will be better paid than those without it, says Swapna Pawar, head of AIC. Applications close on May 26.
œWith demand for IB programmes growing at over 30 percent per annum across the Asia-Pacific region, there™s a corresponding demand for IB proficient teachers who not only know IB curriculums but also demonstrate pedagogy centred on developing the whole child through enquiry-based learning. We are sure the rising number of IB World schools in the Asia-Pacific region will benefit from a growing pool of IB-ready educators, says Ian Chambers, director of IBO (Asia-Pacific).

Visioning Chandigarh conference-workshop
Visioning Chandigarh, a conference-cum-workshop organised by Taaleem College of International Studies (TCIS), Chandigarh and the Institute for Competitiveness, Gurgaon, a constituent member of the global network of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness of Harvard Business School, was convened in Chandigarh on April 16.
According to TCIS spokespersons, this œunique conference-cum-workshop was a combination of deliberations, brainstorming and visioning exercise ” œin a carousel workshop format ” which brought citizens and other stakeholders on one platform. œBy asking the participants to reflect upon the present condition of the city and where they can realistically expect it to be in ten years™ time, the city™s long-term goals and strategic objectives were formulated, says Dr. Vishwakirti Bhan Chhabra, head of college at TCIS.
Among academics and prominent citizens of Chandigarh who presented papers and perspectives were Dr. S.P.S. Grewal, founder-director of the Grewal Eye Institute; Dr. Amit Kapoor, honorary chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness India; Sofi Zahoor, Quark Media™s Global HR director; Sastry Tumuluri, principal advisor to the government of Haryana; Robin Aggarwal, director of the Millennium School, and Sudhir Singh, vice-president Valeur HR E-Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
œThis year™s Visioning Chandigarh initiative will be followed by the publication of a White Paper which will summarise the most significant challenges facing the city, and highlight key discussion pointers and recommended growth strategies, says Jaiprakash Hasrajani, CEO of TCIS and Taleem India.
Dual MBA degree MoU
The Faridabad-based Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on April 26 with Edinburgh Napier University (ENU), United Kingdom to jointly offer Indian graduates a dual MBA degree programme. The terms of the partnership enable MRIU™s MBA students to study three modules of ENU™s MBA curriculum with lectures delivered by ENU faculty at the MRIU campus in Faridabad. On successful completion of the course, students will be awarded MBA degrees by MRIU and ENU.
œEdinburgh Napier University will enrich the existing curriculum of our students and add an international dimension to our study programmes, says Dr. Prashant Bhalla, chancellor of Manav Rachna International University.
Edinburgh Napier University is one of the largest higher education institutions in Scotland with over 17,000 students from 109 countries.