Page 44 - EducationWorld Oct 2021

Cover Story

University College, Oxford: first inspiration Pratibha Jain & Raj Kumar at Harvard graduation day

mar. tained the possibility of study abroad which are education institutions for
A S A POSTGRAD STU- Therefore, after ascertaining that all experience at Oxford was of shock
because of the vast expense involved.
serious-minded adults. “My initial
expenses including travel to the UK of
and awe. Every space in the univer-
DENT at Delhi Univer-
sity’s faculty of law, Raj
tory. I was completely mesmerised by
scholarship, I submitted my applica-
Kumar developed an Rhodes scholars were covered by the sity seemed to exude a sense of his-
abiding interest in study of the law. tion. To my pleasant surprise, I was the culture of deep learning, lectures
“Most of my fellow students at DU one of the 16 applicants from India to and the tutorial system evolved over
were doing law as a stepping stone to be shortlisted and following an inter- centuries at Oxford. That’s when the
careers in the civil services. However, view in Kolkata on December 12, 1997 seed of a similar globally reputed in-
I became fascinated with the subject, — a turning point in my life — was stitution of research and deep learning
especially constitutional law. I read all among six to be awarded a compre- supplemented by orderly governance,
the debates of the Constituent assem- hensive and generous Rhodes schol- was planted in my mind. My experi-
bly which drafted the unique Constitu- arship to read for a postgrad degree ence at Oxford University was my first
tion of India that bravely promulgated in law at University College, Oxford. inspiration,” says Raj Kumar.
a full-franchise egalitarian democracy As the Master Lord Butler — a former After he was awarded a BCL (bach-
governed by the rule of law in a largely home minister of the UK government elor of civil law) degree by Oxford
illiterate and under-educated society, — often reminded us, University Col- University in 1999, this young scholar
and enshrined several fundamental lege (estb.1249) is the oldest college who was deeply immersed in the study
rights for all citizens. In Delhi Univer- in the English-speaking world,” remi- of law for love of the subject, had little
sity, I became a votary of the Consti- nisces Raj Kumar. difficulty winning two scholarships to
tution of India and committed to the Although Indian academics are read law at the Harvard Law School.
rule of law,” he recalls. loath to admit it, there’s a world of In the millennium year, he was award-
After graduating from DU with an difference between universities in ed an LLM (Master of Laws) degree by
LLB in 1997 and being certified by India where higher education to all arguably the world’s most prestigious
the Bar Council of India, Raj Kumar intents and purposes is an extension law school.
began his career as a research consul- of school, and universities in the West But at Harvard, Raj Kumar learned
tant with the National Human Rights more than just law. “While at Harvard,
Commission (NHRC). That’s when an After graduating from DU in I became aware that the private not-
opportunity created by the smile of 1997 with a law degree, lady for-profit model offered by this close
lady luck presented itself to the young to 400-year-old renowned university
legal scholar. Accompanying a friend, luck smiled on the young was most suitable for India,” recalls
who had applied for an Inlaks scholar- scholar. He was awarded a Raj Kumar who was subsequently
ship for higher study in the UK to Del- conferred a Ph D in legal science a de-
hi’s St. Stephen’s College, Raj Kumar full Rhodes scholarship to cade later by the University of Hong
chanced upon a desk inviting Rhodes study at Oxford University, Kong in 2011.
scholarship applications from India. UK With his education odyssey com-
“Before that day, I had never enter- pleted, on July 7, 2000, Raj Kumar

44 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2021