Javadekar hails MoU between India & France for mutual recognition of degrees

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Underlining the strong and long-standing relationship between France and India, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on March 10, 2018, termed as “historic” the inking of an MoU on “mutual recognition of educational qualifications” between the two countries.

“It is historic, for the first time a government to government MoU has been signed to mutually recognize academic qualifications. It will help the student community. There used to be only bilateral arrangements between institutions to institutions,” he said while speaking at the Knowledge Summit at Pravasi Bharatiya Bhawan, New Delhi, in the presence of French Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Ms Frederique Vidal.

“I hope more and more countries, like France, will come forward for mutual recognition of academic qualifications so that the mobility of students and professionals improves,” Javadekar added, according to a PIB release.

The first high-level India-France Knowledge Summit, 2018, was jointly organized by French Institute in India, along with Ministry of Higher Education, Research & Innovation (MESRI), France, and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

Pointing that more than 5,000 Indian students are studying in France and about 1,500 French Students in India, the Minister said the HRD Ministry would launch “Study in India” initiative to attract more and more students from other countries to India.

Apart from MoU on Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications between India and France, 15 MoUs between various institutions of India and France in the areas of Higher Education, Research, Innovation, Faculty exchange, Scientific Cooperation, were exchanged.

Javadekar took the opportunity to list the various initiatives including IMPRINT, GIAN, SWAYAM and PMRF taken by Government of India to boost Innovation, Research and accessibility of education in India.  He pointed out that under GIAN,  an initiative where foreign faculty visit India and conduct tailor-made courses for Indian students in certain  institutions of higher education, about 30 French Faculty members had visited India in 2017 to conduct course and this number is expected to grow more.

Under SWAYAM, India’s own MOOCs, already more than 700 number of courses have been started and about 2 million students, faculties and professionals have registered themselves for various courses.  “Like ATM (Any Time Money), SWAYAM is ATL (Anytime Learning) and AWL (Anywhere Learning),” he said.

Javadekar said said under IMPRINT-II, which is an open invitation for innovation by faculties, students, professionals and others in 10 domain frontier areas of innovation, Rs 1,000 crore is being allocated to fund high-end research and innovation proposals. Besides, under PMRF, highest ever scholarship of Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per student per month will be offered to around 1,000 students each year.

Frederique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Government of France, said that the knowledge summit is an essential step toward the goal set by the French Government to attract 10,000 students to France by 2020. in 2017, over 5,000 Indian students chose France as a study destination, a 60% increase from the previous year, she said.