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The Ontario Maharashtra Goa
Student Exchange Program
Dr. Lalu Mansinha
Academic Director, OMG
And
Adjunct Research Professor of Geophysics
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
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Superlative praise for the
Ontario Maharashtra Goa
Student Exchange Program
from
Ontario and Indian Students
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The Ontario Maharashtra Goa
Student Exchange Program
A two way exchange of undergraduate
and graduate students between the
universities of the Province of
Ontario and a select group of
colleges and universities in
Maharashtra State and Goa in India.
The OMG Program is open to all
disciplines at all degree levels.
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What is a Exchange Program?
A student is allowed by his/her Home university to take
courses or conduct research at a Host university that
will satisfy the requirements for his/her degree at the
Home university.
For example, an OMG exchange student completes Year
I and Year II of Mechanical Engineering at Queens
University, Kingston. She then studies as a OMG
exchange student in Year III of Mechanical
Engineering at the College of Engineering, Pune
University. She returns to Queens Univ. and
complete Year IV, and graduate.
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OCAV - Ontario Council of Academic Vicepresidents
OCAV represents the 18 universities of Ontario
and is the parent body of
ONTARIO UNIVERSITIES INTERNATIONAL (OUI)
OUI runs four student exchange programs:
OBW – Ontario Baden Württemberg Germany
OJS - Ontario Jiangsu China
OMG - Ontario Maharashtra Goa India
ORA - Ontario Rhône-Alpes France
Funding for OMG and all the exchange programs is from
the Ontario Ministry of Training Colleges and
Universities, and from the member universities.
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The OMG is an initiative for the
“development of postsecondary
educational linkages between Ontario
and Maharashtra and Goa with the
aim of promoting, through
institutional cooperation,
the reciprocal flow of knowledge”.
The agreement was officially signed on May 8, 2007 between
the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities
(MTCU) and Ontario Council of Academic Vicepresidents
(OCAV).
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Growth of the OMG Student Xchange
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Maharashtra Goa to Ontario to MaharashtraOntario
Goa
0
0
9
7
20
19
35
25
36
25
(25 with stipend)
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The OMG Student Benefits
OMG Program awards 25 stipends each way
1.
A bursary of $2000 (if going for one term) or
$2500 (if going for two or more terms).
2.
Foreign Student Tuition fee is waived.
The awards are given to both students from Ontario
and from Maharashtra and Goa.
All other costs, including living expenses is the
responsibility of the student.
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Higher Education in Maharashtra
To provide the educated and skilled
workforce, there is a huge education
establishment in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra is home to 38 universities,
many of which are recognized
internationally.
The number of universities does not tell
the whole story. For example, the
University of Pune, with 400,000 students,
oversees 28 medical colleges, 40
engineering colleges, 47 management
colleges and 172 other colleges.
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Pune, Oxford of the East
Pune calls itself ‘Oxford of the East’, as
home to 9 universities and 100
higher educational institutions.
There are some 200,000 students in
Pune.
Pune University has 4000 foreign
students from just about every
country.
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OMG Universities in Maharashtra and Goa

SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
(SNDT=Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey)


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Jai Hind College, Mumbai (Mumbai Univ)
St. Xavier College, Mumbai (Mumbai Univ)
Ramnarayan Ruia College, Mumbai (Mumbai Univ)
H.R. College, College, Mumbai (Mumbai Univ)

University of Pune, Pune
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune

Shivaji University, Kohlapur
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Goa University
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Goa Campus
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Birla Institute of Science and Technology (BITS), Goa
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The old (British) Governor’s
Mansion. A Heritage Building.
Pune University
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In 2007 when OMG started:
Canada and Ontario universities were unknown
Concept of ‘student exchange’ or ‘student mobility
was unknown at most Indian universities.
A student is given no credit for courses taken at
another college or university, in India or abroad
Most Indian universities do not allow the students
to mix and match courses according to their own
interest. The courses are prescribed.
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In 2010, after three years of OMG:
Returning OMG students are spreading the word
and OMG has hundreds of applicants for Ontario
universities every year.
Pune University is now seriously considering
allowing credit for courses taken elsewhere. It is
just a matter of time that all Maharashtra
universities will follow.
There is a continuing request to extend the student
exchange to faculty exchange and research
collaboration.
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Challenges
OMG is the first organisation to push towards the
student exchange concept in Maharashtra and
Goa. We are having some success.
In 2009 we now have exchange students from
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Pune,
taking courses at several Ontario universities.
These courses will count towards the degree at
VIT.
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Challenges
1. Mismatch of term start and stop times
2. Evaluation of student performance
3. Matching of academic standards
4. Living Costs for students from Maharashtra and
Goa in Canada
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Ananth Rangarajan, VIT, Pune to Univ. of Windsor
The University of Windsor considered me worthy
enough and gave me funding to attend this
conference including airfare from Mumbai and
accommodation.
My conference in Dhaka was very successful and
for both my papers I got a response of 250+
viewers;
I was the youngest delegate at that conference
and had a lifetime opportunity to interact with
the delegates who had come from more than 40
countries and more importantly with the students
Bangladesh’s top most ranked Engineering
institute which was host to the conference.
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From Aamer Trambu, OMG Exchange Student from
Mumbai
“Student exchanges are not about education, they
are an investment in change, an investment in
long term, international and long lasting change.
Students are here to . . . share a moment, a
handshake, a hug, to let the world know that we
are the agents of change and we are here not for
the education but to create and usher in a new
revolution .”
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