Canberra to contribute A$1.89m to skilling programme in India’s agri-sector
Australia is very keen to broaden the education and skilling partnership with India, Education Minister Jason Clare said at a media briefing on 2 Mar 2023 in New Delhi.
Appreciating the National Education Policy brought out by New Delhi, Clare said that it is breath-taking in scope and will transform India by giving a big push to jobs, businesses, economic productivity and creating opportunities in all areas.
India has set the target of providing 50% of its youth with either higher education or skill education by 2035 and Australia would be privileged to partner with India in this program, he noted.
The visiting Minister made the comments after signing G-to-G mechanism for mutual recognition of qualifications, the announcement of the IEIF Critical Skills Project and 11 institutional MoUs, all of which marked a landmark moment in educational relations between India and Australia.
The Australian Government will be contributing A$1.89 million for running skills programme in the area of agriculture, a critical sector for India, Clare announced.
He further informed that Australia is working on top priority basis to clear the pendency of education visas for Indian students.
The developments today will create more opportunities for two-way mobility of students and professionals for the purpose of education and employment, and pave the way for making education the biggest enabler in taking India-Australia bilateral relationship to greater heights realise shared aspirations.
The Australian Universities are enthusiastic to work with their Indian counterparts through the mechanism of joint/dual degrees or twinning of institutes that has been recently facilitated under NEP2020.
Australia wants to take forward the depth and seriousness of relationship between the two countries by fostering partnership in the education sector, the Minister reiterated.
Clare also discussed with Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan issues like promoting student mobility and enhancing research and academic collaborations between Indian and Australian universities through the mechanism of Joint, Dual, Twinning degrees that have been brought in recently under NEP2020.
In recent years, Australia has become one of the preferred destinations of Indian students for pursuing higher studies, and even more so for gaining vocational skills.
There are talks to facilitate more Australian students to come to India especially for both short and longer-term study, internships and research.
Australia is also a key partner in skill development and vocational training and both countries are working together on capacity building and training, identifying opportunities in key sectors for closer skill cooperation with a particular focus on new-age courses as per the changing needs and demographics across both the Nations.
Following NEP 2020, India has come up with new initiatives for promoting internationalization of education that include regulations for Joint, Dual, Twinning degrees and a draft regulation for setting up campuses of foreign universities in India.
In addition, Australian universities are actively exploring establishing campuses in GIFT City in Gujarat which has been opened to foreign universities free from domestic regulations.
A number of institutional level MOUs were also exchanged between India and Australia’s university sectors today, which will promote research and academic collaborations between the two countries in several key sectors.
The higher education sectors of both India and Australia are excited to partner with each other as evidenced by the large delegation from Australia. These institutions are driving the bilateral cooperation between India and Australia across a wide range of fields – from bio-innovation to law to industry solutions.
Clare is on a visit to New Delhi from 28 Feb to 4 Mar 2023 to facilitate India-Australia relations in the field of education. fiinews.com
