MONROVIA: The University of Liberia (UL) and Sharda University (SU) in India, on Thursday, March 7, 2024, inducted a Joint Commission between the two partner universities following a historic signing ceremony on the UL Capitol Hill campus.
The induction of the UL-Sharda Joint Commission is a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in India in 2022 for knowledge transfer, faculty and administrative staff collaboration, and student exchange, among a wide range of issues.
The commissioning ceremony was held in the Auditorium of the UL Capitol Hill campus and brought together authorities and others from both universities.
The President of the University of Liberia, Prof./ Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson, Jr., and his counterpart from Sharda Group of Companies/ Sharda University of India, Dr. Ashok Daryani, signed for their respective institutions during the commissioning ceremony.
In a special statement, UL President, Dr. Nelson said the partnership between the two universities includes the exchange of faculty and administrative staff, exchange of scholars – both graduate and undergraduate students, and exchange of academic information and materials, among others.
Through partnerships with other universities outside Liberia, the University of Liberia continues to seek opportunities for collaboration to foster academic freedom of creative thinking, source opportunities for students and researchers to continually work where academic excellence thrives in the search of truth and knowledge and where research and teaching are cherished.
For his part, Dr. Daryani spoke of the Sharda Excellence in Academic Scholarship (SEAS) for the University of Liberia students.
He disclosed that the first academic topper gets a 100 percent scholarship on tuition and fees and the second academic topper gets a 50 percent scholarship.
Over the years, Sharda University has become one of the leading centers of education, research, and innovation in Delhi, India.
Sharda has multiple companies under its control that are involved with High Tech, Medical Science, and Agriculture, among other vital investments.
Under the agreement, Dr. Daryani said scholarship slots would be provided to the University of Liberia as well as top performing Liberian students from high school to study at Sharda.
He announced a 100 percent scholarship on tuition and fees for the country’s first topper for WASSCE; and a 50 percent scholarship on tuition and fees for the second and third toppers in WASSCE.
During his visit, Dr. Daryani will be taken on a tour of the University’s facilities including the Medical Dormitory, Science College, and Agriculture College, among others, to give him a first-hand impression of where we are and how can further strengthen our collaboration.
Dr. Daryani also spoke of the Assured Scholarship & Internship opportunity for female students at Sharda University from the University of Liberia and the rest of the country. He said the scholarship is a tuition-free, semester exchange program for a Joint PhD / research program, among others.
Earlier, UL Vice President for Institutional Development and Planning, and Chairperson of the UL-Sharda University Joint Commission, Prof. Weade Kobbah- Boley said she was honored to be a part of the joint commission.
“We are now the people on whose shoulders the burden of becoming successful rests,” said Prof. Boley.
She said the Joint Commission is prepared to implement the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Sharda and the UL.
“Though the task wouldn’t be an easy one, we have the capacity to succeed,” she said.
She said the UL counterparts from Sharda were kind and receptive to the UL Delegation during its visit to Sharda, India, in 2022.
“The humility was such that you hardly know we’re the leaders, who the leaders were actually. They are so humbled,” she stated.
