NEW DELHI: Joining the league of international universities that are trying to woo Indian students with distance learning now is Open Universities Australia, which will launch its first overseas operations outside Australia with three centres in India.

Owned and partnered by seven leading Australian universities including Monash, RMIT, Swinburne, University of South Australia, Griffith, Curtin and Macquarie, the university's operations will be facilitated by the IMS Management Institute on a trial basis in Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

Aimed at working professionals who are looking for a flexible study programme to suit their needs, what makes the distance learning courses offered here different is that students can literally design their own programme, choosing the number of units they want to do, and enjoying the choice of selecting a unit from another course if need be to upgrade themselves.

"The only thing we are demanding from students looking for an undergraduate degree is proficiency in English. They don't even need to have passed high school. Our aim is to provide a flexible study process that allows a student to take his time. A student can complete a course in ten years if he wants to and faster if need be,'' pointed out Stuart Hamilton, the Chief Executive Officer of OUA.

As of now looking at admitting around 250 students for every study centre, Mr. Hamilton said India was seen a good choice for expansion as it fulfilled all the criteria the universities were looking for. "We have taken our time getting it right in Australia. India is a huge market for us and we would like to take it one step at a time,'' Mr. Hamilton added.

With the focus being working professionals with a time management problem, the University believes the flexibility offered by its courses would be an advantage. "We are not in competition with the regular Australian universities really. Our focus is not on students who have the time and money to pursue a course in Australia, but those who wanted to study but don't have the time,'' said Ann Deden, general manager of Academic Products and Services.

With nothing more than an IELTS score of 6.5 average to 7 as the requirement, students can choose from a range of undergraduate courses. From Internet studies or criminology and criminal justice to child development and communication studies to visual arts, writing or international studies, there is also international health, information technology, web development and Internet design on offer here.

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