Fancy spending three years doing your masters in engineering in French?

That’s the proposition put forth by ESIGELEC, an engineering institute in France, which has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Manipal University wherein students can pursue a five-year integrated Master’s programme in France and receive a dual-degree from both universities.

“This is the first time such a course is being offered in India. It is open to students who have completed their schooling in India. The selected students will spend two years in Manipal, studying basic engineering in English but they will also log 750 hours during this time learning French. Then they will spend the next three years in France, pursuing the course in French,” said Vidya Suresh, a representative of ESIGELEC.

The students will be selected through an exam of physics and mathematics.

Suresh said the test would be held in five cities—Delhi, Kolkata, Puducherry, Bangalore and Mumbai—in the country and in Dubai.

She claimed that splitting the education between India and France would work out to be cheaper for students.

The courses on offer include biomedical engineering, business engineering and electrical engineering. Suresh said learning the craft in another language would only add to the value.

“People look at language as a barrier but I don’t think Indian students will have too much trouble picking up a new language as Indians by nature are polyglots. And here is a chance for not only picking up technical skills but also learning about a new culture,” she said.

Suresh added that the teaching methodologies in India and France vary and that would add to the students’ experience.

“In India, it is all about getting the results but we concentrate more on the learning process. Even the entrance exam will reflect that as the students will not be subjected to the run-of-the-mill multiple-choice-questions exam format but will be pushed to use their skills,” she said.

The selection process will also reflect of picking out the best students for the first batch.

“The entrance test will be held on May 5th but even if we get many applications, we will be restricting it to maximum 15 students. Ideally we would prefer just 10,” she says.