Endowment Fund for setting up Academic "Chairs"

The Challenge

In order to provide leadership and excellence in a few selected areas, the Manipal Academy Higher Education aspires to develop world class teaching and research programs. We are keen to invite a few eminent academicians to our campus who will be involved in the development of academic programs over a 5 year period.

The Opportunity

This objective can be accomplished by providing an endowment fund that will support and sustain the academic activities initiated by these distinguished academicians. It is proposed to set up "Chairs" in the following broad disciplines:
In each of these areas, the selection will be made by a National Committee set up as a "Search Committee" for identifying distinguished academicians who can then be invited by the President of the Academy to spend 3 to 5 years at Manipal. It is expected that the distinguished academicians would be able to bring with them their own research programs and involve the faculty and students of Manipal to participate in them. This in turn would encourage the faculty to be in a position to write project proposals on their own and seek funding for their research from national funding agencies. Postgraduate students would be attached to the distinguished academicians for pursuing their higher degrees. Donors keen to help the Manipal Academy of Higher Education become a world class university, are welcome to join this program and offer their donations. Alumni of the Manipal Institutions are also welcome to contribute towards this program in their respective disciplines.

Establishment of Centres of Excellence in Education and Research

The following centres are proposed to be set up as Centres Of Excellence.
Each Centre would approximately need an endowment of Rs. 200 M (USD 4.4 M). Interested Partner Organizations will be provided a detailed Project Report and the feasibility study.

Areas for Support

Many of the Manipal group of institutions has existed for a few decades or more. If the Manipal Academy of Higher Education has to be a world class University there is an urgent need for upgrading the Educational Infrastructure. The libraries have to be modernized with emphasis on e-literature and e-access.The teaching facilities have to cope with the modern developments in distance communication, teleconferencing facilities, multipurpose auditoriums and global networking. The residential facilities for students as well as the faculty have t have to be improved.
To bring in fresh teaching inputs, there is a need for setting up a few "International Faculty Fellowships" for teaching and research.
The above educational scholarships will be distributed among the Group’s university campuses in 4 different countries and its more than 51 colleges and schools.

New initiatives for making quality education accessible to all

Charity begins at home. Children of lower level employees of Manipal University are being given special tuitions in the sciences, Mathematics and English from Class 9 onwards so that they score better marks in Class 10. They are being further trained for cracking the various entrance exams for admission to professional courses in their XI and XII. The programme was started in 2009-10 and the results have been encouraging. This year 37 students have enrolled for the programme. This is a partnership programme between Manipal Foundation, Manipal University, the parents and the tutorials.

Manipal Foundation will be funding the special coaching classes aimed at benefiting the children of Government schools in Karnataka. The children from Class 9 onwards will be provided special coaching in science and mathematics and English so that they are able to score better marks in their Board exams. From PUC I year, they will be provided coaching to crack the entrance exams for admission to Engineering and Medical Colleges in Karnataka. This initiative is being started in Bangalore as a pilot project and will be replicated in other parts of Karnataka depending on the response to the scheme.

Manipal Foundation is providing funding support to two schools being run by Samridhdhi Foundation at Brookefields and Tubarahalli areas of Bangalore. These schools are a unique effort to educate children of migrant labourers who come in search of livelihood to Bangalore from various states of India. The children cannot be admitted into the Government run schools because they cannot understand Kannada. These children are being given coaching in English medium with Hindi and their own mother tongue also being taught as additional languages. Once they reach a level of competence, they are successfully admitted to regular CBSE English medium schools in age appropriate classes.

It is the Foundation’s aim to give every child a fair chance in life. This, it is believed, can be achieved only through education.

• As a first step in this direction, Manipal Foundation has adopted ten schools in the tribal areas. In these schools, classes exist only till the 3rd standard.
• After this, the Foundation will take over the responsibility of educating these children by providing the right environment to pursue their education.
• Special coaching will be provided for them to do better in their board exams and also help them appear for the entrance exams for admission to professional courses.
• Successful candidates will be provided every kind of support to ensure that they complete their course and assistance will also be given in their placement.
• Efforts are also on to start a similar programme in various other locations.
• Students who are unable to complete formal schooling will be provided training in our ongoing retail selling skills, DTH training programme, and any other project that will be taken up any time so that they get employment.