A French worldview

Updated on: Monday, July 19, 2010

France is emerging as one of the most preferred academic destinations for students who are aspiring to become global citizens, writes Proyashi Barua

To keep pace with today's borderless work environments, it is imperative to have a global exposure at the academic level. This is clearly one of the considerations students have when they embark on a graduate or postgraduate course abroad. Some countries are more conducive in terms of the global experience as they are relatively more cosmopolitan and nurture an ideology of larger socio-economic growth by leveraging shared synergies with other nations. "France is definitely one such nation. It endorses systems on which the foundations of a truly equalised and egalitarian society can flourish. This is one major reason why I chose France over other European and North American destinations to pursue my Master's in international relations," says Parth Kanitkar, a graduate in history honours from Hindu College who has just received the Alliance-Francaise-French Embassy Scholarship Award.

"There are many developed countries that boast of an egalitarian status not realising that they have disturbing undercurrents of social and racial inequalities. One of the indispensable pillars of an egalitarian society is social justice that encompasses a multitude of intrinsic factors like for instance gender equality and justice. However, this fact is overlooked quite often. Consequently, to an extent, even the study of international relations in these countries is skewed towards economic indices that may or may not reflect multifaceted growth and development in the global context," he explains. Kanitkar wants to focus his study on the emerging nations — India, Japan, China and Russia —many of which fall in Asia. "My vision is to institute a thinktank in India that, among other things, will offer an unbiased and centralist opinion on global political issues," he shares.

French is a language that is more widely spoken across the world as compared to English. "However, we have very few people in our country who are conversant in French which is going to be an indispensable tool for global communication in the years to come. My 13 years of education at Alliance - Francaise has given me a strong edge in this language and I hope to refine my knowledge further during my stay at France," adds Kanitkar.

Apart from its welcoming socio-cultural milieu, France is a leader in the domain of science and technology, which to a large extent is the veritable bedrock of global communication, understanding and co-operation.

Karan Sikka, who has pursued his BTech in electronics and communication from Kurukshetra University, chose France as a destination for his postgraduation precisely on this ground. "France is the hotbed for telecommunication as many telecom companies have their origins in France. I want to work in the area of value added services as this sector holds unbound potential in India. It is my dream to introduce innovative products and services, which is possible only if I now study in an environment where the technological support systems are futuristic and forward looking," he explains. Sikka has been awarded the French Ministry of External and European Affairs Scholarship. "French universities have a very strong culture of imparting technical courses with actual involvement in real life projects. Moreover, opportunities for research and development are of high standards and of an incisive nature," he adds.

Times of India

A French worldview

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