Southern Cross Uni offers IT degree in India

Students in India will soon be able to study for a Southern Cross University (SCU) degree in Information Technology, without leaving home.

SCU’s School of Multimedia and IT, located at Coffs Harbour and Lismore, will launch the first of its information technology courses in India in late July following successful trials in India and other countries.

The courses will be offered in partnership with APTECH Worldwide, Asia’s leading IT provider. APTECH Worldwide has 2,449 training centres and has enrolled more than two million students in 52 countries.

Barry Wilks, Director of International Programs and Multimedia and Information Technology at SCU, said the course had already been trialed in Nigeria, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

“The students do a three-year diploma course with APTECH and then study for a degree with us,” Mr Wilks said.

“APTECH teaches our units with our guidance and support and we assess the students’ performance and set the examinations. These students study the same units as our Australian students study on campus here.”

Mr Wilks said there were limited university places available in most of the third world countries in which APTECH operated, and this arrangement would provide the students with greater opportunities for gaining knowledge in the rapidly advancing area of information technology and its applications.

“In some countries there are only one or two universities. The students can’t get into university because there aren’t enough places.”

He said the benefits of this new program for the University and the region were enormous and there was a large untapped market.

“In India there are over one billion people. It raises the profile of the University and Coffs Harbour campus significantly and has the potential to attract a large number of students for further study. It also complements our other programs in Asia, Hong Kong and China.”

Mr Wilks said following the trial in Nigeria there had already been an increase in the number of people wanting to come and study in Coffs Harbour.

The course will be launched by the SCU Pro Vice-Chancellor, Professor Angela Delves and Mr Wilks in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderbad, Chandigarh and Katmandu at the end of July.


For more information contact Sara Crowe or Kath Duncan, Media Liaison, Southern Cross University, Ph: 02 6620 3144, email: scrowe@scu.edu.au.