Education minister invites Australian varisities to set up campuses in India

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday invited Australian universities and skilling institutions to explore possibilities of setting up campuses in India and of collaborating with their Indian institutions on other areas.

“We had fruitful discussions on further strengthening our cooperation in education, skill development, research collaborations, innovation and entrepreneurship…,” Pradhan, who is on a four-day visit to Australia, tweeted. “I am glad that both Australia and India recognise the value of education and innovation in the growth, development and prosperity of our societies.”

The Union minister on Monday co-chaired the 6th meeting of Australia-India Education Council (AIEC) along with his Australian counterpart Jason Clare at Western Sydney University (WSU).

“In the 6th meeting of the Australia-India Education Council, Pradhan said that AIEC is a highly effective forum to further advance ties and boost engagements in education, skill development and research priorities,” the education ministry said in a statement.

The two leaders 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, the statement said.

Pradhan, who is also the Union skill development and entrepreneurship minister, said the two countries agreed to expand their cooperation in learning, skilling, and research. He also stressed the research collaboration between the two countries in the areas of Ayurveda, Yoga, Agriculture, etc, the statement added.

“He called for collaboration in skill certification and areas like mining, logistics management, etc,” it said. “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,” the education ministry statement said quoting Pradhan, who also invited Clare to visit India by the year-end.

Earlier this year, the government 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.