The Central Institute of English was the brainchild of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. CIE, as it was called then, was set up in 1958 in Hyderabad to train teachers of English. In April 1972, the Institute broadened its scope to include the major foreign languages, and was renamed the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages. CIE became CIEFL, and in July 1973 in recognition of its high standards of excellence, the University Grants Commission accorded the Institute the status of a deemed university.
The Institute continued to grow; M. Litt and Ph.D programmes were added to the existing Post Graduate Diploma courses. To meet the demands of language teachers across the country, the Institute set up two Regional Centres: one in Shillong (1974), and the other in Lucknow (1976). With the introduction of the Department of Correspondence Courses in 1974 , language teachers, both English and foreign languages, had access to many courses through the distance mode. In 2000, the CIEFL shed its ‘training institute’ avatar, and for the first time began to offer M.A programmes in English Literature, English Language Teaching, Cultural Studies, Linguistics and Phonetics, and Media and Communication. Seven years later, in 2007, thanks to an Act of Parliament, the Institute affectionately called ‘seefl’ by many became ‘iifl’.
In the past 50 years, many scholars have visited us and interacted with our faculty and researchers; prominent visitors have included Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Anita Desai, William Golding, Noam Chomsky, Michael Halliday, Richard Kayne, E C G Sudharshan, U R Ananthamurthy, A.K Ramanujam and Braj Kachru. These details are retrieved from www.efluniversity.ac.in
Mission & Vision
1) CIEFL becomes The EFL University
The English and Foreign Languages University has been created by the Indian Parliament with a view to building upon the achievements of the former CIEFL, and to significantly expand its activities on the national and global stage. While the CIEFL, a Deemed University, was primarily a teacher-training Institute, the mandate of the new university, according to the Act, is to advance and disseminate “instructional, research and extension facilities in the teaching of English and Foreign Languages and Literature in India”, as well as, “to take appropriate measures for inter-disciplinary studies and research in Literary and Cultural Studies, and to develop critical intercultural understanding of civilizations.” The task of the university will thus be to play a leading role in creating socially and economically relevant knowledge related to communication in the broad sense, and share this expertise for the good of the Indian people as well as other people in the developing world. The university, in other words, is committed to the principles of inclusive growth and cosmopolitan advance.
a. Our first motto will be: ‘Cross the border and close the gap through language!’ There is a Russian saying: “Yazyk do Kieva dovedyot”: Language will take you to Kiev (the capital of ancient ‘Rus’). This means that language can be a very powerful vehicle for meeting people, and for achieving understanding. In today’s context, language should take us not only to New York and London, but also to Berlin, Madrid, Beijing, Hanoi, La Paz, and to Kiev, too.
b. Our second motto will be: ‘From the university of theory, to the university of practice!’ The expansion must not be envisioned merely in geographic terms: our university will endeavour to place English and other languages in the service of those people of the world who have until now remained deprived of adequate language skills, and the benefits that flow from the knowledge of these languages.
2) Extensive Academic and Teacher education programme
In order to realize the mandate given, the university will strengthen the existing academic programmes offered in both the face-to-face and distance modes, and initiate some new programmes which will include:
i) Five-Year Integrated M.A. Programmes in English (face-to-face mode) in Linguistics, English Literature, Literary and Cultural Studies and Teaching English as a Second Language and Mass Communication and Journalism.
ii) Five-Year Integrated M. A. Programmes in Foreign Languages (face-to-face mode) in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and possibly Chinese.
iii) e-Master (on-line) MA and M.Phil programmes in French, German, Russian, etc.
iv) M.A. in Media and Communication, and Journalism.
v) M.A. in Film Studies.
vi) Courses in English for Specific Purposes: English for Lawyers/Doctors/Scientists/Business Communication/IT Sector, etc.
vii) Online English Proficiency Development Programmes
viii) Courses in Teacher Education and Development: Various courses, in collaboration with national- and state-level agencies will be made available in both the face-to-face and distance modes. Remedial Courses for trainees coming from the rural hinterland. Trainer development courses to take up the task of teacher training and teacher education at various levels. Short-term courses of 10 days or more for the underprivileged teacher from rural India.
3) Multi-Campus University
The university already has a campus in Hyderabad, Lucknow and Shillong. As the university has an all-India mandate, in the coming years, we will be setting up five more campuses in different parts of the country, thereby becoming India’s first truly multi-campus university. The idea behind establishing new campuses is to reach out to those who live outside the metropolitan areas, and to help them compete in and contribute to all spheres of national activity. A vast majority of Indians have until now been deprived of English and other world languages, and have therefore been unable to compete with those educated in urban public/convent schools. Kerala and Haryana have already offered to provide land for a new campus.
4) Admission of Foreign Students
A large number of additional places will be earmarked for foreign students who wish to pursue full-time or short-term intensive courses in English. A 3,000-room hostel of international standard is being built for this purpose.
5) International Collaboration
We will undertake joint teaching and research programmes/projects with several universities the world over. Short-term and long-term international training programmes in language skills as well as inter-cultural studies will be started. Such collaboration will not only attract a very large number of students thus contributing greatly to the economy of the city, but also boost what is often called ‘channel two diplomacy’: establishing people-to-people contacts and vibrant relationships across borders. A new International Guest House with 200 rooms is being constructed to facilitate the implementation of these joint ventures.
6) Interface with Industry and Other Sectors
There will be a close interface with the manufacturing and InfoTech sectors in order to provide personnel with optimum communication skills. We shall design and develop a range of short-term, self-financing need-based vocational courses for the market, as well as for voluntary organizations.
7) Inter-disciplinary Studies
Research projects will be undertaken on a collaborative basis with our national and foreign counterparts in diverse fields such as literature, languages, teacher education, media and communication, journalism, performing arts, cinema, culture, etc. Languages and literatures will not be studied in isolation, and questions related to multi-lingualism and pluralism will receive special attention, since we believe that a country like India is uniquely placed to lead discussions on such issues of global significance.
8) Publications
Since the primary function of a university is to create and disseminate socially useful knowledge and skills, importance will be given to the publishing of books and journals in the areas of our expertise. We will also build a strong base for producing audio and video materials; a part of this will be marketed to generate revenue for the university’s activities and expansion, while the remaining part will be shared with the public through our website.
9) Sources Generation Centre
Owing to the language barrier, valuable research sources such as books and published papers in foreign languages, such as Russian, cannot be accessed by our scholars. The university plans to set up a Centre to translate such resources into English and Indian languages, and they will be made available to researchers.
10) Academic Updating Mechanisms
The English and Foreign Languages University will strive to be a welfare university. Adequate funds will be generated to ensure that our faculty can travel the world over for conferences and research projects. As part of an “Earn as you Learn” scheme, our students will have access to scholarships, bursaries, and teaching assistantships. The university also plans to set aside a substantial amount from the corpus fund for the welfare of our employees, so that everyone feels a part of the EFL University community.
11) Creation of a People’s University
To sum up, the attempt is not to add one more elite institute, but rather to create a People’s University of international standards. The academic commitment will be spelt out in clear terms: galvanize people, make borders redundant.
Placement
Our efforts to produce superb students have borne fruit in numerous instances. A large number of our participants have done us proud by getting placed in reputed multinational companies and government organizations. The Campus Placement Cell, which publicizes information about employment opportunities, has been instrumental in getting our participants good jobs. The Campus Placement Cell liaises with educational institutions and corporate organizations to find suitable place for a candidate who will be graduating soon. If you are interested, you can register your names with the Cell for prospective employment. The Cell is also in charge of organizing campus interviews at the end of each academic year.
Accommodation
In addition to the University’s Hostels (Men’s and Women’s) a range of private flats, houses and lodgings are available throughout the city, including houses shared with other students, single or double bed-rooms, self-contained flats, and rooms in properties occupied by their owners. The cost of such housing and the facilities included obviously vary. They may be in the range of Rs. 4000/- per month. It is therefore important for new students to begin their enquiries as early as possible.
Newly arrived students from overseas often need temporary accommodation whilst they find a place more permanent. This can be arranged by the University in the Hostels or Guest Houses, depending on the date of the arrival. For ICCR students, the ICCR Regional Office in Hyderabad looks after their initial stay and expenses.
Admission
Whether you are an ICCR-sponsored student or a self-sponsored one, the courses that you can choose to study are the same, but the way in which you apply and the admission procedures that you have to follow are different, so we will specify these procedures separately.
ICCR CANDIDATES
You must apply preferably in the month of December/January to the Indian Embassy/ Consulate in your country, in the prescribed form, available at the Embassy itself. You can download this from the ICCR website www.iccrindia.org. All communication is only through the ICCR and not directly with the EFL University.
After the formalities of the sponsorship and immigration are done and you are in Hyderabad, you must report to the ICCR local office in Hyderabad first to get your ICCR identity card. The ICCR will then give you two to three months of your scholarship amount as advance to help you settle down. Once you have got the ICCR identity card, you can come to the University, fill in the prescribed joining report form, and submit all your original certificates. You become a student of the University only after you hand in the joining report. You should register with the police (FRRO) within 15 days. The HIV clearance certificate has to be produced on arrival. Your fees will be paid by the ICCR. Shared accommodation for single persons is offered by the University. Married research students can opt to stay out of the campus.
You must apply to the Dean, Foreign Students, the EFL University directly in the prescribed application form which you can download from www.efluniversity.ac.in
