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Establishment and Mission

Establishment and Mission

The programme of Adult Education made its debut in JNU in 1978-79 in response to the National Adult Education Policy of Government of India (GOI) and the UGC Policy Framework of Higher education which recognized extension and adult education as the third dimension of higher education in addition to teaching and research. In 1984, the University accorded the programme an independent status, and named it as 'Unit of Adult and Continuing Education'. Subsequently in 1999, it was renamed as the 'Group of Adult Education'. Since then, the Group has considerably expanded its programmes and activities including research and teaching activities.

The academic mission of GAE is to unfold thematically various concepts in adult education and lifelong learning – studying, learning and subjectivity in societal contexts, including structural aspects of gender, class, social justice, poverty and livelihood security, and the historical understanding of knowledge, skills, competence, competitiveness and quality of public life for the common, ordinary people. Joining international advocacy groups, GAE too focuses on: (1) Learning Throughout Life in Different Cultural Contexts; (2) CONFINTEA V and Dakar Follow-up; (3) Capacity Building in and for Lifelong Learning; (4) Structured Advocacy & Action for Sustainable Livelihoods: Development Education, Networking, Documentation & Communication; and (5) Education and Awareness of Consumer Rights Related Issues in Contemporary Indian Society.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.