New Delhi: Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman, University Grants Commission had a meeting with Ms. Sarah Storey, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia, Mr. Mathew Johnston, Minister Counsellor (Education and Research)- South Asia and Mr. Brett Galt-Smith, Counsellor, Education and Research, Australian Government on June 3, 2022. During the meeting, both the sides exchanged views to promote effective collaboration between the two countries considering the fact that education has been recognised as one of the priority sectors for cooperation by the leadership of India and Australia.
Prof. Kumar apprised the Australian side about the various progressive initiatives taken by the University Grants Commission and the Government of India for internationalization of the Indian higher education system, as envisaged in the National Education Policy, 2020. He also shared the key features of the UGC Regulations on Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint and Dual Degree Programmes.
The Australian side appreciated the ushering in of the much-awaited UGC Regulations on Academic Collaboration, and expressed that they would encourage the Australian higher educational institutions to collaborate with the Indian HEIs under the ambit of these Regulations. The Charge’ D’Affaires, Australian High Commission hoped that the Task-Force on Education Qualification Recognition will strengthen mobility of students. Chairman, UGC further shared that a Committee, constituted by UGC has been working on various modalities for recognition of foreign qualifications in India.
The Australian side also expressed its interest in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gujarat. Prof. Jagadesh Kumar assured the Australian side of the support and guidance of the UGC to facilitate Australian universities to set up their campus (es) and offer courses in diverse areas like Financial Management, FinTech, Science & Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the GIFT City. Prof. Kumar also shared that UGC would bring out a set of enabling Regulations so as to allow top-ranked foreign HEIs to open their campus (es) in India. The Australian side suggested that a self-regulatory framework for foreign HEIs might be developed for promoting their establishment and operations in India.
The Australian side further agreed to explore opportunities for educational collaborations by reaching out to and bringing together eligible Indian and Australian HEIs through an online workshop. Both sides shared their commitment to commence Twinning, Joint and Dual Degree Programmes by the start of the next academic session. It was discussed during the meeting that as announced in the Budget 2022-23, establishment of a Digital University on a network hub and spoke model shall provide a platform for various higher educational institutions including foreign HEIs to provide affordable, world-class teaching-learning ecosystem. Both the sides also agreed to work together to ensure quality in the delivery of online academic programmes.
It is expected that the talks will provide a greater impetus to academic collaborations between Australia and India in the fields of higher education and research.
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