Vidya Prasarak Mandal, established in 1935, is in existence in Thane for many decades. Over this long period of time it has changed the educational scenario of the city of Thane and around by cre-ating facilities to provide school and college education in basic as well as applied disciplines. In the past few years it has developed links with international organizations in India and abroad. Apart from academic collaborations these links have led to the exchange of faculty and students with other countries. With a view to facilitate this exchange of material and manpower VPM's Academy of International Education and Research (AIER) was formally established in 2009 as an interna-tional wing of the Vidya Prasarak Mandal, Thane (VPMT).
The main objectives of the academy can be spelt out as follows: