iAcademy is currently involved in educational projects in Nepal and Bangladesh. Our main effort currently revolves around two colleges in Nepal. While we have been asked by other colleges (both in Nepal as well as in other emerging nations in Asia) to assist them by bringing international tertiary education to their college, we have chosen a conservative approach -- we only work with colleges whom we feel are ready to fundamentally change their current educational and operational practices. Provided below is a brief description of how we work with these colleges in order to bring internationally recognised tertiary education into their college:
Islington College is now arguably one of the most well known private college in Kathmandu. Prior to our involvement, Islington College was a franchisee of Informatics Education (Singapore) and was known as Informatics College. The college did not have a direct partnership with any degree-awarding body then.
Our involvement in Islington College involved playing an active, hands-on role in managing and transforming the college, and we are proud to help the college be the first in Nepal to have a direct partnership with a UK public university (London Metropolitan University), offering Bachelor degree programmes in Computing, Computer Networking and IT Security, Multimedia Technologies, as well as Business Administration.
Merryland College Biratnagar is a new college founded by Islington College (Kathmandu) and Merryland Higher Secondary School College (Biratnagar). As part of our tripartite working arrangement, iAcademy would be working with Merryland College Biratnagar (the local partner) and the University of Wolverhampton (the University) to bring Bachelor degree Business programmes in that region. In order to ensure both affordability and quality, iAcademy has developed its own curriculum and qualifications that is to be accepted into the University of Wolverhampton's BA (Hons) International Business Management programme with advanced standing. Students who complete iAcademy's University Foundation Certificate, Diploma and Higher Diploma qualifications in Business Administration (designed to be equivalent to the UK NQF 3, 4 and 5 standards respectively) are to be guaranteed progression to the final year of the University of Wolverhampton's Bachelor degree (Hons) in International Business Management awarded directly by the University of Wolverhampton.
Innovate Nepal Group is an investment holding company that focuses on innovating higher education in Nepal by blending international qualifications with local contexts. Due to the pioneering work that ING has done in the country, the Nepalese Ministry of Education had in 2014 awarded ING's Chairman and CEO, Mr Sulav Budhathoki, with a Letter of Commendation for advancing the betterment of higher education in Nepal. ING is the sole shareholder of Islington College Kathmandu (ICK; the first academic institution in Nepal to offer British undergraduate degree qualifications) and majority shareholder of Merryland College Biratnagar (the first academic institution in Biratnagar to offer British undergraduate degree qualifications). As part of ING's expansion plan for a strong presence throughout Nepal, ING has recently acquired Herald College (Kathmandu) and started Itahari International College, and these two colleges are expected to be operational by Autumn 2016. In Autumn 2017, ING expects to operate two more colleges (this time at the eastern side of Nepal).
iAcademy advises ING at a strategic and tactical level, and for all ING colleges, iAcademy oversees all matters pertaining to academic delivery as well as operational processes and procedures. In addition, we serve as the conduit between ING colleges as well as their University partners, ensuring good understanding between all parties (managing expectations and inter-cultural matters) to ensure a smooth and successful partnership for all parties involved.
Islamic Development Bank-Bangladesh Islamic Solidarity Educational Wakf (IDB-BISEW), through their project management agency, Dynamic Engineering Consultants (DEC), has appointed iAcademy as their academic consultant for the purpose of exploring UK universities' interest in setting up a satallite campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
After various discussions and evaluations, iAcademy has successful obtained Letters of Intent from three public UK universities for this opportunity, and is continuing to assist IDB-BISEW and the universities on this project of great educational significance in Bangladesh
