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Pradhan invites Aussie varsities to set up campuses in India
The two sides agreed to establish a working group on transnational education to strengthen institutional partnerships
Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday invited Australian universities and skilling institutions to explore possibilities of setting up campuses in India and areas of collaboration with their Indian counterparts.
“We had fruitful discussions on further strengthening our cooperation in education, skill development, research collaborations, innovation and entrepreneurship… I am glad that both Australia and India recognise the value of education and innovation in the growth, development and prosperity of our societies,” tweeted Pradhan, who is on a four-day visit to Australia and co-chaired Australia India Education Council’s sixth meeting with his counterpart, Jason Clare.
Clare and Pradhan agreed to establish a working group on transnational education to strengthen institutional partnerships and open new opportunities for collaborations between universities of the two countries.Pradhan said the two countries agreed to expand their cooperation in learning, skilling, and research.
In a statement, the education ministry said Pradhan stressed the research collaboration between the two countries in the areas of Ayurveda, Yoga, Agriculture, etc. “He called for collaboration in skill certification and areas like mining, logistics management, etc. He further said that India has set up Digital University and Gati Shakti University for which the two countries can work together to develop curriculum and other aspects.”
Pradhan also raised the issue of pending visas of Indian students planning to study in Australia. “Appreciate the keenness of the Australian government in expediting visas to Indian students and also towards establishing university-to-university collaborations for offering dual degree programmes to encourage two-way student mobility and to boost people-to-people linkages,” said Pradhan, who also invited Clare to visit India by the year-end.
The government this year announced the setting up of campuses of foreign universities in Gandhinagar’s GIFT City free from domestic regulations to facilitate the availability of skilled manpower in financial services. The University Grants Commission has constituted a committee to develop the modalities to facilitate the process.
