India, a diverse nation of 1.4 billion people, has more 18-year-olds than the entire population of Australia. Its global aspirations are clearly reliant on the capacity to drive skills development, the capability to deliver education and foster industry and research engagement.
So, not surprisingly, Australia is building an expansive presence to assist India in delivering its ambition to educate 500 million people by 2035.
Minister Clare has again been in India, elevating education ties between the countries through meetings with his counterpart, Minister for Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the Hon Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. The Minster also co-chair the first meeting of the Australia India Education and Skills Council. He was been accompanied on the ground across the three days by a broad and diverse Australian education delegation (TKN 8 Nov 2023).
With Indian migrants the second largest group of overseas-born Australians and an uplift in trade and investment activity through the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) we celebrate each other’s diversity and support the relationship through complimentary pursuits. Australia has more Indian residents per capita than any other country in the OECD, we are two nations deeply entwined.
Heavily invested through the India Economic Strategy to 2035, Australian engagement is underpinned through the diplomacy of people-to-people exchanges (TKN 8 August 2023) that will support the Indian implementation of a visionary National Education Policy.
Following is a brief snapshot of the flurry of activity and concentration of education-related activity, anchoring long-term fruitful relationships between Australia and India.
Australia India institute
Minister Clare announced a 3-year education funding extension in Gujarat for the Australia India Institute. “Australia and India education and research collaborations have immense potential for growth. Our future projects will help drive a deeper level of cooperation for new knowledge and innovation for our shared future priorities,” says Chief Executive Officer, The Hon Lisa Singh.
Read the release here.
The Mapping Higher Education Engagement Between Australia and India: A Compendium profiles higher education partnerships and engagement between Australia and India. It was launched by Minister Clare and Minister Pradhan at the Gandhinagar meeting of the Australia India Education and Skills Council. It’s a deep dive into the more than 400 current partnerships across diverse aspects of education engagement including academic mobility, student articulation, pathways programs, joint degree and doctorate programs, and research collaboration.
This critical piece of work is based around the robust data and relationship mapping held by Universities Australia. Catriona Jackson UA Chief Executive says, “The Australia and India relationship is reaching new heights, advanced by the power of education which binds both countries strategically and economically”.
Access the compendium here.
Australia’s Education Strategy for India
At the first Australia India Education and Skills Council meeting, Minister Clare released the A Partnership for the Future – Australia’s Education Strategy for India report. The strategy outlines three pillars to enhance the longstanding educational partnership between India and Australia including:
- Delivering mutual benefits through education.
- Strengthening institutional partnerships and research collaboration.
- Enhancing people-to-people links, mobility and employability.
Included in the plan are steps on how Australia will deepen its relationship with India through closer education and research partnerships, student mobility and Australia-India alumni networks.
Read the report here.
Australia India Education and Skills Council (AIESC)
Minister Clare co-chaired the first annual meeting of the Australia India Education and Skills Council (AIESC) with his Indian counterpart the Hon. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan. The Ministers discussed:
- The launch of the Maitri Scholars Program to give talented young Indian researchers greater opportunities to study in Australia.
- The intention of Australian and Indian universities to develop a roadmap for research collaboration.
- The finalisation of regulations by the University Grants Commission on Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programs. The first of these is underway between RMIT and BITS Pilani.
- Opportunities for cooperation under the International Skills Training (IST) program, including through cybersecurity and aged care.
- The progress of the Developing Critical Skills in India project, which is trialling a model of transnational skills development.
- The extension of funding for the Australian India Institute until 2026 to further strengthen the education and research relationship.
Both governments reinforced commitments to implement the Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism to expand institutional partnerships and educational mobility, and agreed to share VET sector approaches to workforce development for the clean energy sector.
Read the meeting communique here.
The next AIESC meeting will be held in Australia in 2024.
Innovative Research Universities (IRU)
Six members of the IRU signed the MoU that will underpin the design of a new methodology for in-country delivery of Australian degrees in India. In this, its 20th Anniversary year (TKN 18 Sept 2023), the new IRU consortium approach will build on links universities currently have with Indian partners, extending the capability of 100 joint programs with institutions that support student mobility, dual degrees and research collaboration.
IRU Chair Professor Paddy Nixon (Vice-Chancellor, University of Canberra) said the group is creating new ways of working to deliver on the education policy priorities of both the Australian and Indian Governments.
Read the release here.
University of Wollongong
Wollongong University Vice-Chancellor and President, Prof Patricia M Davidson, said the university is now recruiting staff for its Indian campus. “We are in the process of recruiting faculty. We will be bringing some of our staff from Dubai where we have a very strong fintech base. Also, there is a huge Indian diaspora in Dubai and some of them are very excited about this,” Prof Davidson said.
Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with Minister Clare visited the site of the Wollongong and Deakin Universities at GIFT City in Gandhinagar to be briefed on the campus development and future plans.
Both Ministers attended the Arambh event (The Beginning), the formal announcement of the opening of campuses, celebrating the commencement for both Australian universities in India’s Gujarat International Finance-Tec (GIFT) City – where students are expected to commence in mid 2024.
Deakin University
Deakin University and the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar confirmed an MoU. Signed by Professor Iain Martin, Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University, and Prof Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Gandhinagar, this will progress regional education and research.
“We are excited for this collaboration with Deakin University to scale our joint efforts for developing mutually beneficial and meaningful models for developing the knowledge ecosystem in the region. I am sure that this partnership will greatly benefit our students, faculty, and staff in their careers and international exposure,” said Prof Rajat Moona.
Deakin and the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC, International), launched a Global Job Readiness Program (GJRP). This will engage and uplift India’s youth through the skills that will enable them to be successful in the global employment market. Over three years, the partnership will engage 15 million students in India.
30 years old in India next year, Deakin will be open for student applications next week into the Master of Business Analytics and Master of Cyber Security (Professional) programs. Students at Deakin University’s GIFT City Campus will experience the world’s first international university campus in India – a strategic achievement outcome reflecting Deakin University’s in India, with India, for India philosophy.
In working toward the campus opening, staffing is critical. “We are in the process of recruiting students and bringing the staff to Deakin India. So, the senior roles have almost been finalised. One of the first things I did on this trip was to conduct final interviews with the two key administrative and academic leads. We will now start academic recruitment, of which around 80 per cent of the teaching staff will be engaged from India and 20 per cent will come from Australia,” Professor Martin said.
Read more about GIFT City India here.
Western Sydney University
Western Sydney University (WSU) signalled its intent to open a campus in Bengaluru, the site of India’s most productive science and technology cluster that engages universities and industry partners. Minister Clare confirmed WSU is keen on establishing an independent campus by 2025. “They (Western Sydney University) are very interested in putting in an application when the Indian government finalises the regulations that will set out how the universities can operate outside the Special Economic Zones which is GIFT City.” he said.
WSU Vice-chancellor Barney Glover says, “WSU’s Indian campus, if approved by the country’s regulators, would focus on teaching STEM degrees, employ a mix of local and Australian academics, and would aim to grow enrolments to over 1000 students within the first five years.”
Monash University
Monash University signed agreements with IIT Hyderabad and the International Centre of Excellence in Mining, bringing them which will bringing their research and innovation capability into the mining and mineral development sector in India.
“iCEM’s work in renewable energy and metals make it a natural partner for the research and innovation coming out of Monash University. Together we can enhance the growth of the mining sector, helping it to become more efficient, safe and sustainable,” says Professor Susan Elliott AM, Monash University’s Interim President and Vice-Chancellor.
Read the release here.
Maitri Scholar Program
The Maitri Scholars Program for postgraduate STEM degree courses was announced. Around 45 students in emerging sectors of advanced manufacturing, critical technology, critical minerals, and clean energy solutions will receive Australian government backing the program with AUD $11.2 million supported over the next four years. Scholarships will be administered by the Centre for Australia-India Relations, and open to all Australian universities, who can nominate PhD and masters’ students.
Foreign Minister Senator Penny Wong said, “In supporting India’s brightest minds in STEM research, the Maitri Scholarships set the foundations for life-long connections for Australian and Indian leaders in new and emerging technology.”
Maitri, friendship in Sanskrit, is the flagship program of the Australia India Relations Centre – it deepens education, cultural and policy connections between Australia and India by fostering sectoral collaboration, creative exchange, scholarships, and policy and academic discourse. “The program will strengthen our education partnership with India by giving some of its brightest young researchers the opportunity to study at our world class universities,” said Minister Clare.
Read the scholarship release here.
Group of Eight
Engaged across these events, initiatives and signings, Go8 Chief Executive Vicki Thomson reflected that Australia’s research-intensive universities had developed deep research and education partnerships with India over many decades and the willingness of both nations to build a stronger alliance presented exciting opportunities for Australia’s higher education sector.
“Go8 universities are proud of their longstanding and growing partnership with India. It is based on quality and collaboration. Our world-class universities have a strong commitment to elevate our research collaboration, work together with our partners to build future workforces and ensure both our nations reap the benefits of innovation and research”, said Ms Thomson.
“The best research is global – and India is a key strategic and economic partner for Australia. Only by collaborating with the best and brightest in like-minded countries can we hope to find solutions to global challenges,” she said.
Go8 media release here.
Australia India Institute Annual Oration
At the annual oration, in Gandhinagar, Minister Clare highlighted India’s visionary National Education Policy, saying, “it will mean that by the middle of next decade one in four people around the world that get a university degree will get it in India.” By the 2050s, there will be 90 million students attending university in India.
“It also shows the depth and strength of the relationship between our two countries.” Our shared focus on the value of education as a form of engagement is “not just about international students coming to Australia, it is increasingly about Australian universities going to the world,” he said. Celebrating the Australian and Indian higher education institutions that currently share over 400 agreements Minister Clare again highlighted the research and work undertaken by the Australia India Institute that will continue to serve these relationships.
The Minister emphasised the need for Australian universities to have an on the ground presence as part of their offerings, to demonstrate our commitment and desire to understand through spending time in country, build our Australian capability to do business with India and grow our capacity to identify where shared opportunities lay. He named Deakin University – with its 57 Indian partnerships and joint PhD program allowing students to study in both Australia and India – as an exemplar.
See the Minister’s oration here.
So, the depth and breadth of activity across these 3 days clearly signals the Australian intent to be an integral partner in delivery of the Indian National Education Policy and has delivered outcomes through foundations successfully seeded in previous visits.
Deakin demonstrates that success in and with India is constructed over time. And time builds trust, with the Koala noting (TKN 8 August 2023), that commitment to community, collaborative research and shared industry engagement are the precursors to trust… facilitating an increase in interest and engagement with India.
