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Eyewitness Report

tion in Knowledge Oasis Muscat — SCHOLASTIC OPTIONS AT MEC
the IT hub of Oman — provides MEC
students excellent access to intern- Middle East College offers a wide range of study programmes across engineering,
ship opportunities with blue-chip science and technology, business and management, and archival studies.
companies. Students are provided a Engineering. B.Eng (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Elec-
practical, industry-focused curricu- tronics and Telecommunications, Electronics and Instrumentation, Software Engi-
lum with mandatory internships with neering, Computer Engineering with pathways in Cyber Security and Networking;
mentors from industry,” says Dr. and M.Sc in Electronic Engineering.
Santosh John, a computer science Science and Technology. B.Eng (Honours) in Software Engineering and Computer
alum of Kerala, Madras and Coven- Engineering (with pathways in Cyber Security and Networking); B.Sc in Computer
try universities with prior teaching Science with pathways in Data Analytics, Software Technology, and Computer
experience at the Cochin University Science; B.Sc (Honours) in Renewable Energy, Quantity Surveying and Construc-
of Science & Technology, who signed tion Management; M.Sc in Information Technology, Data Science, FinTech, Cyber
up with MEC in 2006 and currently Security, Electronic Engineering, and Construction Project and Cost Management.
heads the department of computing Business and Management. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Accounting
and electronics engineering. and Finance, General Management, Marketing, and Human Resource Manage-
Another defining feature of this ment; B.Sc (Honours) in Logistics Management; M.Sc in FinTech; and MBA.
path-breaking HEI is its student- Archival Studies. B.Sc in Archives and Records Management; and M.Sc in Records
centricity and innovative capabilities. and Information Management.
For instance, it has institutionalised Annual tuition fees: OR 3,000-3,500
offices such as academic quality as- Monthly living expenses (hostel): OR 65-125
surance and employability. Unlike NB: Omani Rial (OR) = Rs.228
most HEIs in India, MEC hosts an
independent internal Office of Qual-
ity Assurance tasked with the duty to a Ph D in applied linguistics from
ensure that the syllabi and curricu- Coventry University, to establish
lums of the college’s 18 undergrad the college’s Academic Writing &
and eight postgrad programmes are Student Success Centre.
internationally benchmarked. “Our brief is to improve students’
“The people — including youth English writing skills in their chosen
— of Oman are very traditional subjects and vocational aspirations.
and family-oriented and averse to And while improving their writ-
traveling abroad for higher educa- ing skills, we also prepare students
tion or work. Therefore we have to develop their English language
built a globally comparable HEI in speaking skills, co-curricular and
Oman itself. I believe that over the networking activities to enhance
past 23 years MEC has developed a their employability through our
high-quality undergrad professional value proposition QEN (qualifica-
education model exportable to Arab tions, experience and networking)
world countries and perhaps India programme based on self-directed
as well,” says Nandita Ganesh, an learning,” says Mathew.
electronics engineering postgrad of Mathew: QEN self-directed learning Preparation of students for suc-
Karnataka and Rajasthan universi- cess in their jobs and workplaces is
ties and currently Head of Quality offices of student success and em- supplemented by MEC’s Director-
assurance at MEC. ployability. ate of Employability. Dr. Harith
Moreover in sharp contrast to Taking cognizance of the fre- Al Jahwari, a graduate of MEC
the practice of the great majority quently overlooked reality that IT with a Ph D from Oman’s premier
of India’s 52,081 undergrad col- professionals, engineers and even government-run Sultan Qaboos
leges and 1,338 universities that rely business management graduates in University and currently Director of
solely on external validation of their non-English speaking countries ex- Employability and Partnerships, be-
study programmes after which they perience English language communi- lieves that strong partnerships with
cavalierly certify graduates without cation difficulties, way back in 2004, industry which translate into joint
assuming responsibility for students’ MEC’s top management recruited design of syllabi and curriculums,
success in the jobs market, the MEC Dr. Priya Mathew, a linguistics student internships, with industry
leadership has institutionalized the graduate of Calicut University with professionals serving as visiting

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