Theory classes and a practical session on at Wigan & Leigh College

Dec. 16: The city is all set to have an institution of global standards offering a wide variety of courses.

Wigan India, part of the Wigan & Leigh College of the UK — the 150-year-old institution that has an active presence in 23 countries across Europe, north Africa and Asia, will soon set up a branch in the city.

Vinay Pasricha of the college said, “Now we want to explore what the students of the city want to do. It is surprising that many of them go to Bangalore and Delhi for higher studies. We want to tell them that they can come to Calcutta for higher studies.”

Wigan & Leigh College, which has begun its operation in India, has succeeded in placing all its post-graduate management students as paid interns with leading companies in India. Traineeship runs concurrently with the two-year diploma course and it attracts stipends ranging from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 per month.

Shivaji Gupta Roy, the regional director of the college, said: “The stipend is more or less sufficient even at the lower end of the scale to cover the students’ fees — which in effect means that he is getting a post-graduate management course coupled with actual work experience which can cover the bulk of the tuition fees.”

WLC India is now in its eighth academic year and offers diverse programmes in management, fashion technology, media studies, advertising and graphic design at its campuses in New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore.

The college in India offers students an opportunity to obtain qualifications from renowned international institutions while studying in India. The programmes bring about a perfect balance of academics and practical work experience, using proven global learning methodologies developed globally.

The courses offered by the college include post-graduate diploma in business management with specialisation in marketing, finance, HR and international trade, advertising and marketing communication, apparel merchandising and marketing as well as bachelor of business administration.

It also offers a four-year integrated post-graduate diploma in business management for undergraduates, post-graduate diploma in visual communication, interactive multimedia, advertising and graphic design, full-time diploma in advertising and graphic design, fashion design, advance diploma in fashion technology. It also offers courses on mass communication and media studies.

“Traineeship programme is a part of all the courses. It provides practical training with the industry.

“On successful and satisfactory completion of the programme, students are usually placed within the partner organisations,” Roy said.

“We have a strong curriculum focusing on business, technology and the arts and sciences. It provides the students with many options for shaping an academic program that fits their skills, interests and career goals,” he added.

To maintain international standards, there is a regular interaction with the faculty from Wigan, UK. Students of Wigan can also get themselves enrolled in international universities by gaining credits during the study. These credits are transferred to the prestigious institutions abroad, as these are well recognised worldwide.

In addition to the above, the college also has a specialised placement cell which continuously works in close co-operation with the industry so as to provide the best placements across the globe to its students.

The cell also assists the students in industry-related activities like projects, industry training, organising seminars, pre-placement talks and campus interviews, apart from various other student-industry interactions.

“Our campus also provides a wealth of facilities with well-stocked libraries, modern computer centres, fashion laboratories, design workshops and media laboratories with the latest equipment and softwares,” Roy said.