Govt to launch ‘Study in India’ programme : Javadekar

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The first ever Indo-French Knowledge Summit ended successfully  with a landmark agreement on mutual recognition of educational qualifications between the two countries and a record 15 other MoUs between universities and research institutions on joint initiatives and partnerships. The two-day summit was held in New Delhi and coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.

The summit was organized by the French Embassy in India and co-hosted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. More than 350 people from nearly 80 Indian Institutions and 70 French Institutions  along with key enterprises participated in the Summit which also received the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Campus France and Confederation of Indian Industry, according to a PIB release.

Addressing the participants at the closing session, the Union Human Resource Development Minister  Prakash Javadekar congratulated both the Governments for extending cooperation in finalization of agreement on mutual recognition of academic qualifications. This agreement will go a long way in boosting the educational relationship between the two countries, will encourage mobility of students from both the countries by facilitating possibilities for them to continue their studies in the other country and would also promote excellence in higher education through cooperation, university and research exchanges, Javadekar explained.

Elaborating further, Javadekar said that the Government will soon launch its Study in India Programme to encourage more foreign students to take up education in India. Currently there are 47,000 foreign students learning in India and by 2022 we will have at least 1,00,000 students learning in India, he said. Javadekar also mooted the idea that both the countries should also look at the possibilities of allowing professionals to practice in each other’s country on reciprocity basis. 

The Minister for Higher Education and Research and Innovation,  France, Ms Frederique Vidal, in her remarks at the closing session, said that education can become an effective weapon to fight poverty and inequality. She emphasized that for a meaningful cooperation, there is a  need to simplify administrative procedures to increase student mobility, to address all academic issues to promote cooperation as well as foster new partnerships between Institutions for the future.