ICCR to help Afghan students master English

Aiming to help students bridge language barriers, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) will help Afghan students master English before they join higher education courses here from next year.
An 'India-Afghanistan week' is also on the cards where linkages in the cultural and educational sphere of the two countries will be deliberated upon, ICCR Director General Amarendra Khatua today said.
The announcements were made during an event to mark the 10th anniversary of ICCR scholarships to Afghan youth, which was attended by Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh and Afghan Ambassador to India Shaida Mohammad Abdali among others.

Singh said the programme is aimed at ensuring that Afghan people are able to surmount difficulties and reach the same level where they "existed prior to the dark period".
"ICCR is set to organize English language bridge course for 500 Afghan students in Kabul from January 2017 to March 2017, another round of which will be held in the concerned Indian institutes from April 2017 to June 2017 before the Afghan students join regular courses in Indian universities and colleges for the year 2017-18," Khatua said.
A total of 2,912 Afghan students are presently availing the scholarship in studying in India, out of which 236 are female students.

Under the programme, a total of 1,000 scholarships are offered to Afghan nationals annually to pursue higher education in India.