Indian law school opens Dubai offshore centre

After IITs and IIMs, yet another national brand will soon go global. The prestigious National Law School of India (NLSIU) could take the lead among L-schools by setting up an offshore centre in Dubai for its distance education programmes, Times of India reported on Sunday.

A three-member committee, constituted by NLSIU vice-chancellor R Venkata Rao, has given its nod for a tie-up with Dubai-based Institute of International Law to offer the law school's hugely popular Master of Business Laws for Indians working in Gulf countries. Currently, around 2,500 students have enrolled for the two-year programme offered via distance mode.

According to the proposal sent by the Institute of International Law (IIL), NLSIU will be responsible for supplying course material, conducting condense classes and awarding certificates. IIL will play the role of exclusive facilitator and a bridge between students from different countries in the region and law school. IIL will also bear the visa fee, travel, food and accommodation expenses ofvisiting faculty, besides being responsible for all administrative matters and local law compliance.

"The Master of Business Law programme offered by the law school attracts dozens of students from Italy, USA, Nepal, Hong Kong,  Singapore and Dubai. During a discussion on the internationalisation of the law school, I suggested offering the distance education programme at other countries and the executive council of the institute was very excited about the idea. When the proposal from IIL was referred to me, I immediately suggested that we should go for it," O V Nandimath, NLSIU professor and member of the committee to set up an offshore centre, said.
NLSIU registrar V Nagaraj and former registrar V S Mallar are other members of the committee.

Unlike IIMs and IIT, the law school was established through an Act of the state legislature. The distance education programmes offered by the law school are open to graduates from all countries. The institute will now place the proposal before the executive council for its nod.