New Delhi (NVI): India yesterday peddled its rising educational excellence and prospects at an international conference underway in Paris under the aegis of UNESCO, and called upon the global community to benefit from the rising status of Indian higher education.
Participating in the ministerial meeting on inclusion in Higher Education, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, “We are determined to improve the quality of Indian higher education policy and we are committed to provide higher education not only to Indian students but also to foreign students through ‘SwayamPrabha’ and ‘Swayam’ Portal.”
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also held bilateral talks with Education Ministers of Norway, Bangladesh, Mexico, Thailand, UAE and Malaysia in Paris on 13th November, 2019. The meetings took place on the sidelines of 40th UNESCO General Conference being held in Paris.
“We are illuminating the world through the light of knowledge with e-VigyanBharati and ArogyaBharati. We have signed agreements with African nations and recently, we are giving research scholarships to students of 1000 ASEAN countries in our best technical institutions,” Pokhriyal said.
He further said, “in order to attract students from all over the world, we started study in India in 2018, under which 2500 scholarships are being given. We have started the DUO-India program by promoting educational inclusion at the international level and under this scheme, we will be able to exchange teachers, researchers and students.”
“The Sampark Scheme is being successfully run to give a new impetus to academic research and academic collaboration with the world’s top educational institutions. Through the Right to Education Act 2009 for all, it is committed to provide education to all classes,” Pokhriyal said.
Citing that the teacher is the most important link in the teaching-learning process, Pokhriyal said, “We have started the world’s largest teacher learning program, Nishtha.”
In addition, under the scheme of ‘Global Initiative for Academic Network (GIAN), faculties from the world’s prestigious higher education institutions visit Indian Higher Educational Institutions for taking courses in emerging areas. To enhance faculty mobility, it is necessary to expand academic collaboration with institutions of higher education. All these programmes are in line with UNESCO’s sustainable development goals, said an official statement.
Pokhriyal meets Education Minister of Norway
Meanwhile, Union HRD Minister also met Norway’s Minister of Research and Higher Education, IselinNybø in which both sides exchanged the views on future bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of education.
Emphasising on collaborative research opportunities between Indian educational institutions and eminent educational institutions of Norway, Pokhriyal explained the initiatives taken by India for internationalization of Higher Education such as Study in India, GIAN and SPARC.
He also invited the Norwegian Minister to visit India for a Bilateral meeting in early 2020.
Pokhriyal meets Education Minister of Bangladesh
Taking forward India and Bangladesh relations, the Minister also met Education Minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni on the sidelines of 40th UNESCO General Conference.
During a meeting, highlighting the challenges of India and Bangladesh as same in the changing environment, Moni said that Bangladesh wants to pursue collaborative research with top institutes like IITs, IIMs.
Pokhriyal meets Education Minister of Mexico
The Minister had also held extensive discussions with the Education Minister of Mexico Esteban Moctezuma Barragan to increase educational exchange between India and Mexico. Pokhriyal invited students from Mexico to visit India to study in the fields of Yoga, Ayurveda, Hindi, Sanskrit and other Indian languages and Indian philosophy and thanked Mexico for inviting India as a guest country at the International Book Conference.
Meanwhile, Esteban Moctezuma said, “Educational challenges of India and Mexico are same and both countries should work to increase long-term cooperation in the field of education.”
Pokhriyal meets Education Minister of Thailand
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n HRD Minister also held a bilateral meeting with Thailand Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan and informed him that under Study in India programme, which is a flagship programme of Government of India, students from Thailand have taken admissions in top Indian Higher Educational Institutions.
He added that under this programme, fee waiver to the extent of 100% and scholarships are provided to meritorious International students.
Pokhriyal meets Education Minister of Malaysia
Meanwhile, holding a bilateral meeting with Education Minister of Malaysia Dr Maszlee Malik, Pokhriyal urged Malaysia to participate in GIAN programme and to enrol more students under Study in India programme.
He said, “India has already shared an MoU on Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications. However, looking into the intensive potential of collaborative activities between the countries, we may go for a comprehensive MoU including the issue of Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications.”
With these Ministerial meetings, India hoped to develop strategies to promote balanced international mobility of students and faculty between higher education institutions in UNESCO member countries.
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