MAHE students celebrates ‘Kairos International Day’

Team Udayavani, Aug 15, 2018, 3:40 PM IST

Manipal: The international students of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal celebrated Kairos – The International Day at the Dr TMA Pai Auditorium on August 10, 2018. The Office of the International Affairs and Collaboration organized the programme in two parts, literary events and the stage show. It was an opportunity for the overseas students studying in MAHE to let their hair down.

It was a day when the students from different countries got an opportunity to know each other better and enjoy the cultural diversity and exchange pleasantries. Literary events like World Café, Turncoat and others were keenly contested. The evening was set aside for the stage programme which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.

Dr Raghu Radhakrishnan, Director International Collaborations made a presentation of the students from different countries.The Vice Chancellor, Dr H. Vinod Bhat being the main architect of internationalization of the University answered questions from four students in a brief fireside chat session. He spoke on how internationalization has contributed to the growth of the University in the last 25 years, including student exchange and research.

“The first wave of internationalization in Manipal came in the mid-90s. From the first international programme in 1993 was the medical college in Melaka, Malaysia. Then the International Centre for Applied sciences started in Manipal which brought in a whole lot of international universities as partner universities for a sort of twinning arrangement,” he said.

“Subsequently we started campuses in Dubai, Muscat and Antigua and all these led to internationalization. Student mobility, faculty mobility, conferences held jointly, research all came later. First we put up campuses and then everything else followed. It was our dream that every eligible student should have the opportunity to go even if it is for a small stint,” he added.