Bernard Philip, Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Visits Jamia

Mr. Bernard Philip, Australian Deputy High Commissioner, New Delhi visited Jamia Millia Islamia and attended the Valedictory Function of Communicative English Programme (CEP) & Self-Enrichment Programme (SEP) as Chief Guest.

Addressing the audience, that comprised of faculty and students, Mr. Bernard Philip said that India and Australia need to strengthen their bilateral ties further. He addressed the need to carry forward the relationship in the academic sphere. He drew the attention of the audience to the close bilateral ties that existed in several sectors and how critical it was to take forward the relationship to a higher level. He shared with the audience that the fastest growing foreign language in Australia was Punjabi followed by Hindi. Earlier, praising the efforts of the students who successfully completed the Communicative English Programme (CEP) and Self-Enrichment Programme (SEP) in Jamia, he emphasized how significant it was to develop clarity of ideas and effective communication skills. He also expressed his nation’s desire to further academic collaborations and partnering with Indian universities of which Jamia was a very significant institution given its nationalist history and its contribution to nation-building.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. S.M. Sajid, Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia lauded the efforts of the students who spoke eloquently and presented performances. He suggested that it was hard to believe that students could learn and acquire so much within 28 weeks and suggested that the transactional methodology of the CEP-SEP could be replicated by other departments and centres of the university. He felt that Jamia needs to carry out many more such experiments to empower the students in consonance with the institutional objectives and national priorities. He opined that Jamia was moving forward with nation.

Earlier he welcomed the Deputy High Commissioner to the university and talked about the collaborative research that was on in some departments and how important it was to revalidate and widen the scope of the collaboration. He said that Australia has always occupied a special place in the mindscape of India.