The Chennai-based Gothe-Institut plans to have a centre in Tiruchi by the start of 2011.
Tiruchi ranks next only to Chennai and Coimbatore in terms of academic importance. The centre would come up as a franchisee model, Prabhakar Narayanan, Head of the Language Institute, Goethe-Institut, told ‘The Hindu' .
Goethe now has its own institutes in Chennai, Mumbai, Calcutta, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune. The second line institutes managed by private parties are in Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
In Tiruchi, an average of 100 students from the National Institute of Technology – Tiruchi and SASTRA University – complete the first level every year. A neutral centre would be helpful for non-students to learn German language, and also enable students who have completed the first level to pursue the second level, he said. The Anna University of Technology – Tiruchi has also evinced interest in creating opportunities for its students to learn German.
Mr. Prabhakar felt that learning of German would be highly beneficial to students in Arts and Science programmes as well for securing KPO jobs in German concerns in India. Completion of the second and third levels would guarantee them high-paying jobs, he said. The Goethe-Institut would also carry out a pilot project in 2011 in association with sponsoring companies to adopt villages and teach aspiring learners the three levels. The sponsoring BPO/KPO companies would absorb the candidates en masse.
As many as 500 German companies have invested in India, according to B. Lakshmi Gopal, German Language Instructor, who handles classes for students of NIT-T and SASTRA. At Chennai, the Goethe-Institute offers a five-month intensive programme for learners intending to complete the first three levels: A1, A2 and B1, at one stretch. By doing so, the candidates qualify themselves for teaching German in schools or pursuing higher studies in Germany. Since higher education is highly practical oriented in Germany, ability to speak in the language was a definite advantage to secure jobs. Candidates completing MS in Germany could look for jobs in German companies in India, said Ms. Lakshmi.
During their recent visit to the NIT-T, the Institute Director M. Chidambaram expressed keenness to expand the scope for the students to learn German. The number of students going to German universities for internships has been rising steadily, Dr. Chidambaram said.
