Foreign students finally find home on campus

HYDERABAD:  Foreign students in Osmania University will finally have a place to stay in the varsity’s campus. Prof. C Venugopal Rao, Joint Director of the University Foreign Relations Office (UFRO) informed  that construction work for a new hostel for foreign students is already underway, and the new building will be functional within two months from now for the academic year 2012-13. With finding economical housing options close to the university a challenge, students studying in various departments have been complaining since long about the lack of hostel facilities for foreign students on campus. “I have to pay a lot of rent as it is not easy to find a place near the university,” complains Khadir, an Ethiopian student from the university’s MCA department, explaining that the locals avoid renting their homes to African students.Agreeing, Ahmed, a Sudaneese student from Nizam college laments, “We are victims of racism in our daily lives and are constantly monitored by the police.” However, it isn’t just the inability to find affordable accommodation that is plaguing the expat student population. Explains Charlie, another Ethiopian student in the MCA department, that apart from finding a place to stay, another major issue they face is that lecturers don’t seem to have much knowledge and the education quality is lower than his expectations. “Foreign students must be given more attention, as there is a language barrier due to the accent, which must be catered to,” he points out. Also complaining about the lack of qualified professional teachers, Khadir adds that his department has only one professor and the others are young lecturers. Li Ming, a student from China, enrolled in the arts college’s English department says that the teaching quality in Osmania University is not good and everything is mostly exam oriented and not practical. “I go to a private tutor to learn English, and it is an extra expense, besides the high rent in these areas.”  However, Mahdi, an Afghanistani student who is enrolled in the political science department in OU gives a counter point when he says that students themselves need to act more responsibly and attend their classes regularly. “Only during exams I see all of my classmates,” he informs.  Prof Sunaina Singh, head of the English department, says that foreign students enrolled in her department who had come with absolutely minimal knowledge of English, if at all, are now doing exceedingly. “Some of the foreign students wanted to leave early, they wanted to write their exams soon and leave, which is not possible, so they are unhappy with that. Those who attend classes regularly are doing fine. But those who thought that they’d get free attendance were in for a surprise,” she added.