English and Foreign Languages University Holds Diamond Jubilee In Shillong

Staff Correspondent

SHILLONG: The English and Foreign Languages (EFL) University, Shillong campus celebrated its diamond jubilee on April 9 and 10. The Director In-charge of the campus, Prof AK Mishra inaugurated the two-day event held in the university multi-purpose hall. The celebration took off with academic lectures by the Director In-charge and Dr Ravindra Kumar Vemula, Associate Professor and Head of Journalism and Mass Communication Department.

The celebration commemorated the establishment of the university which was then a dream of Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, for an institution to impart quality training in English. In 1958, the Central Institute of English (CIE) was born. Gradually, the institute extended the scope of its goals to improve the standard of teaching of English, to undertake relevant research and to introduce the study of foreign languages. It was therefore renamed the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) in 1972 with the addition of three major foreign languages – German, Russian and French.

Venturing into newer territories like curriculum development, evaluation, and methodology, two new campuses were set up in Shillong (1973) and Lucknow (1979) to cater to the needs of language practitioners in the North East and the North India.

In 1973, CIEFL was awarded the status of a deemed university and in 2006-2007, CIEFL became a central university by an act of Parliament and was renamed as The English and Foreign Languages University that is dedicated to the study of English and ten foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Persian).

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