Leaders Speak
“ODL will be an Important Tool for Improving GER�
Shri Amit Khare, Joint Secretary, Bureau of BP & CR Education Policy UNESCO, INC & ICC, Department of Higher Education, Government of India, in conversation with Sheena Joseph provides updates on the latest buzz in the higher education sector
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What are the areas in which your department has been focusing on, with specific reference to international partnership in the field of higher education? In the field of international partnership, we are looking at the mobility of faculty as well as students in both directions. When people largely talk about the entry of foreign educational institutions in India, what is not being talked about is that we have our own efforts in spreading education abroad. Some of our private universities have already opened campuses abroad. We are also receiving requests from some countries for opening our Institutions like IITs in their country. In Africa, another initiative has been announced by the Honorable Prime Minister covering two institutions; one is the African Institute for Education Planning and second would be the African Institute of Information Technology. Given our strength in IT, a project has also been approved by the government for an IndoEast Africa Virtual University, which will be anchored by IGNOU. So, while it is true that more than scores of Indian students go to the U.S., Australia, UK and other places for education, we can also affirm that more than 40 thousand students come to India. We are looking at both these developments. We are trying to internationalise our universities and institutions so that the students could get international experience. At the same time these exchanges are very crucial for research collaborations and for faculty
development. Some of the important collaborations, which we already have are the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI), Obama-Singh Knowledge Initiative with USA. Also we have collaborations with Australia and New Zealand in terms of higher education and vocational education. In addition, we have 33 bilateral and multi-lateral agreements with different countries. While we want to benefit from the experiences of other countries, at the same time, we want to share our tremendous expertise particularly in ICT with rest of the world. In terms of different collaborations like UKIERI and ObamaSingh Knowledge Initiative, what are the implications of these for universities, students and teachers in India and abroad? The collaborations include different components. Setting up of foreign university campuses will be one of the components. Other elements, for example, include that of student mobility and recognition of international degrees. Similarly, quality assurance is another component which is to be considered so that the standard of education is benchmarked and it can match up to international standards. Innovative projects and joint degree programs have also been covered in different phases and it all depends from country to country. Some countries are more focused on higher education while some other countries are looking for collaboration in the area of school education.