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Manipal, August 17: Quality education involves international exposure and experience. That was amply highlighted by Manipal Academy of Higher Education Pro Chancellor, Dr H.S Ballal while releasing the 155^th publication of Manipal Universal Press (MUP) at the manipal.edu building on Friday. The publication titled, “Internationalisation of Higher Education: The Dynamics of Educational Ecology”, isjointly edited by MAHE Vice Dr H. Vinod Bhat and Dr Neeta Inamdar Head of the Manipal Centre for European Studies and the Chief Editor of MUP.

The book is a reflection of ideas on the role of internationalisation in education.Dr Ballalwhile emphasizing on the role of universities in contributing to the growth of nation spoke of some of the initiatives by MAHEin that direction. “The exchange programmes, the twinning programmes, student mobility and others ensuredthat the University is on the right track to internationalisation,” Dr Ballal said.

He added; “The recent International Day, ‘Kairos’,organized by the University’s international officewith students from about 58 countriesparticipating reflects the positive approach to the efforts on internationalization”.

Dr Bhat provideda broader understanding of internationalisation in the context of higher education in his speech. He described how internationalisation of higher education transcends the economic and academic motives and attains a greater objective of forging bonds of trust and knowledge among diverse communities.

Dr. Bhat mentioned that the true architect of internationalisation in Manipal was Dr TMA Pai. “The strong foundations were laid when Manipal branched out with campuses in Nepal, Malaysia, UAE and Antigua,” he said and announced that MAHE would develop a think tank – Centre for Education Research, which would not only study quantitative but also qualitative impacts of internationalisation.

Dr. Neeta Inamdar explained how the book explored the notion of internationalisation beyond the frameworks of mobility, ranking and funding. It has chapters by18 authors including seven international scholars, exponents of internationalisation, and it deals with themes such as Visions, Practices and Experiences of Internationalisations.

She said that the Jean Monnet Project funded by EU and this book are a result of the various academic exchanges with European universities and MAHE.Tanima Nigam, the Editorial Coordinator of MUP, welcomed the gatheringand Rahul Putty, Head of Department of Languagescompered the event.