The Manipal University campus at Dubai International Academic City (DIAC) is teeming with teenagers. The cafeteria and the corridors present vibrant scenes of students engaged in serious discussions and light-hearted arguments, as I find my way to the office of Uma Prasad, the university’s Student Services Officer.
Most of the faces at the campus seem Indian. “They are, but we also have many students from Tanzania, Pakistan, Kenya and other places,” Uma tells me later as she greets me with a warm smile.
The Academic City in Dubai is said to be the world’s only free zone for higher education, with campuses of various countries, including those from England, the U.S. and India.
The Universities of Wollongong, Heriot Watt, Middlesex and Murdoch, as well as India’s BITS Pilani and Manipal University campuses dot the sandscape of Dubai. Equally well-known is the exemplary work of Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV), the destination for all Human Resource providers who throng the region.
“Yes, Knowledge Village stands testimony to the region’s rapid strides in education,” says Uma Prasad. She goes on to discuss the range of courses Manipal University in Dubai offers, and life on the campus.
Courses and placements“Besides the various Management, Engineering and Bio-technology streams, our three-year courses in Media and Communication and Interior Design, five-year programme in Architecture, and undergraduate and postgraduate options in Television and Radio have really caught on,” says Uma. “And these innovative courses are backed by a strong faculty and well-equipped infrastructure,” she adds.
Opportunities are plenty. “For instance, if Media and Communication is your choice, the solid presence of Reuters, BBC, Zee Arabia and others should open up new vistas for employment,” she explains.
Student Services Officer“It involves a gamut of responsibilities. I do general counselling for those who have problems in adjusting to the new milieu. Then there is peer group pressure and advice regarding fee and the like. Students are under tremendous stress because of expectation from parents, teachers and their classmates. Also after years of being under parental vigil, the new-found freedom at the campus makes some of them go berserk. Youngsters need help on several issues and have to be handled with care and sensitivity. After 27 years of teaching, this was a new role indeed,” she says.
“But it has been gratifying. You can find me all over the campus with students or sitting with them in a cafeteria sipping tea. Establishing rapport is of primary importance. And the first step is to know each of them by name. The rest is easy.” Having been a teacher of Psychology she should know. “When behavioural issues crop up, after a counselling session I’ve had students who have told me, ‘I don’t think I was wrong. But for your sake ma’am, I shall apologise.’ They are affectionate and if you are receptive to their problems they become your friends.”
When this interview appears in print Uma Prasad would probably just have retired from service. “All the same, Manipal University Dubai and its students will always remain with me. It has been a rewarding sojourn,” she signs off.
