British Council has launched its managed learning zone concept in Ahmedabad Thursday for the increasing number of Indian students seeking foreign degrees.
After Delhi, Ahmedabad is the second city in the country where the concept has been introduced. MLZ allows students to get degrees from reputed universities of the United Kingdom without actually requiring to visit that country.
The degrees, given at the end of an online study course, cost around half of the amount that would be required if students visit the UK for studies.
The three courses that will initially be offered for students of Ahmedabad are MSc in tourism and travel management of the Nottingham University Business School, MA in management from the University of Durham and MA in public policy and management of the University of York.
"The British Council will co-ordinate in bringing online education of the top ten universities of the UK to students in Ahmedabad at one-third of the amount they would have to spend just on fees," said Sanjeev Roy, business development manager (India) of the British Council.
The online masters course in tourism and travel management will cost about 3000 pounds, the masters course in management 3,500 pounds and the masters course in public policy and management 3000 pounds.
Students who opt for these online courses will get the opportunity to study the last semester in the UK if they wish to do so, Roy said.
As soon as students enroll themselves for the programme, they will get a kit containing textbooks, CDs and other study material from the UK universities and a special tutor will interact live with the student during the course.
The business development manager said the 11 British Council libraries all over the country will automatically become the focal points for implementing the programme all over the country, but subsequently, the British Council will look at educational institutions to conduct these courses at their premises.
"We are looking at the possibility of having reputed educational institutions to conduct the courses for us. Their teaching expertise can come in handy," Roy said.
As many as 30,000 students register themselves during the UK Education Exhibition that is held twice a year across major cities in India, but only about 12,000 actually go to the UK for studies.
"There is a huge number of students, who are interested and keen on studying in the UK but cannot do so because of various reasons. This will prove to be the right opportunity for them," Roy said.
The official said initially, the British Council had problems promoting the concept as people often mistook e-learning with dot-coms.
The British Council has decided to rope in top officials of corporates to act as facilitators for students at a managed learning zone.