Seminar on “Opportunities to Study in France, French & Scholarships”

On 9 July 2018, the Office of External Affairs of North South University arranged an informational session titled, “Opportunities to Study in France, French & Scholarships” where members of the French Embassy and Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) joined to promote higher education in France. The Deputy Head-of-Mission, Embassy of France, Mr. Jean Pierre Poncet and Director, AFD, Mr. Bruno Plasse, and Professor of FLE, AFD, Mr. Kazi Ashraf Uddin were the guests. The event was divided into two sessions; the first session was dedicated to inform students on the scopes and opportunities to study in France and the other was dedicated to the faculty members and administrators to discuss possible collaborations in France. During the first session, Mr. Uddin, Campus France representative, explained that Campus France is the French national agency for the promotion of higher education, international student services, and international mobility. He informed the audience that Campus France helps students to find different schools and universities in France related to their field of study, student grants and how to apply in France, with or without an exchange program. Later on, Mr. Uddin emphasized the reasons to study in France. France has a vibrant international ambiance where there is more than 12% international students. France possesses a pleasant temperate climate, economic stability, excellent art and cultural exposure, the 9^th most widely spoken language, French and the world famous French cuisine. Afterwards, Mr. Uddin explained the structure of the French education system and higher education choices, which include: Universities, Grandes Ecoles, and Specialized schools and institutes. Based on their field of studies and need, the students were advised to choose the institution in which they wished to enroll. The session ended with a Q/A session where souvenirs were presented to the participants. At the end of the session, the Vice-Chancellor of NSU, Prof. Atiqul Islam thanked the speaker and guests from the Embassy of France and AFD for broadening the horizon of options to the students. Seeing the participation and outcome of the program, the Embassy of France and AFD showed their interest to come to NSU twice a year for such informational sessions to promote education in France. In the second session, faculty members and administrative personnel joined for a meeting with the guests where they explored options for the regular outbound of NSU students or alumni to go to France for higher education. NSU showed great interest to have teachers from AFD come and teach French to NSU students. The representatives from the Embassy of France and AFD assured that they would see how an agreement might be established so that French language teachers could be sent to NSU and that they would also try to connect NSU with some of the best schools in France.