India and the UK to Strengthen Education Collaboration
NEW DELHI, Dec 16: Indian and the United Kingdom have expressed the resolve to further strengthen their educational collaboration.
In a bilateral meeting between the Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ and the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab here on Wednesday, the two countries agreed to deepen their engagement in the field of education and research and work collaboratively on mutual recognition of academic qualifications over the next year.
Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre, Secretary, Higher Education Amit Khare and senior officials of the ministry were present in the meeting.
Raab hailed India’s National Education Policy 2020 as visionary, and said the proposed reforms will open up opportunities for students, the economy and for deeper engagement and collaboration between the two countries. Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement during his visit to UK in 2018 that education is a living bridge between India and UK, Raab said this policy will help make this bridge even stronger. He said UK has a lot of respect for the academic rigour coming out of India, and the contribution of the Indian student community is highly valued by his country. He also informed that UK has made several changes in their visa and immigration rules to facilitate student mobility.
India and UK have agreed to set up a joint Task Force consisting of designated higher education organizations from both countries to work towards mutual recognition of academic qualifications. The composition of the Task Force and its modalities are to be decided at official levels.
Speaking on the occasion, Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said setting up of a joint task force will expedite the process for achieving mutual recognition of academic qualification. This will support India’s agenda for internationalization of higher education. He said the agreement to work towards mutual recognition of academic qualifications aligns with the vision of Modi for creating a globally mobile workforce and internationalization of Indian higher education, as proposed in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Speaking on India’s educational ties with the UK, Pokhriyal said the relations between the two countries have been very positive and cooperative. Today’s agreement signifies continued mutual trust between them to elevate ties through education, research and innovation.
Both sides expressed hope and confidence that they would further enhance mutual engagement in the field of education, research and innovation, leading to deeper and stronger bilateral relations.
(Manas Dasgupta)
