Association with foreign educational institutions is a widespread trend in higher education. Having a collaboration with foreign educational institutions in terms of research, projects, cultural exchanges is seeing an intense surge among Indian institutions these days.
Similar trend seems to have caught up with some international schools in 'Namma Bengaluru'. Schools offering curriculum under the International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge International Examinations and International General Certificate of Secondary Education are eager to have academic and cultural exchanges with overseas counterparts.
The Indus International School will sign agreements with universities in UK, the University of Bath and University of Glasgow, for a teacher training course and to develop a prototype for an affordable international school. "It isn't very usual to have schools collaborating with universities but collaboration is the key word. Quality education will depend on such partnerships," Indus Trust CEO Lt General (retired) Arjun Ray said.
According to a report by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, the goewth in collabortion of schools with international institutes is because, these schools not only cater to children from elite families but also to middle class students.
Schools like Greenwood High International School have engaged about 50 universities to get their students placed for higher studies.
And some other schools like the Mallya Aditi International School has had student exchange programme since 2006 with schools in Germany and Sweden.
With these opportunities in hand, some schools charge as high 17 lakh rupees for admissions in their schools. Some experts also consider this is all about creating a hype.