India, Australia to boost educational ties, eye school-level collaborations

NEW DELHI: India and Australia are exploring further educational cooperation with more Australian universities likely to have their presence in India. During his visit to Australia, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday engaged in discussions with his Australian counterpart Jason Clare , focusing on strengthening ties in education. Notably, both countries are exploring collaborations at the school level, including twinning, exchange programmes and mutual recognition of credits.

Addressing Australian International Education Conference in Melbourne, Pradhan highlighted the importance of transforming India's education system into a competency-based framework in line with National Education Policy 2020. He emphasised that this partnership will help prepare students for the 4th Industrial Revolution by focusing on digital literacy, soft skills, and interdisciplinary studies.

During his discussions with Clare, the ministers explored possibility of establishing more branch campuses of Australian universities in India, following setup of Deakin and Wollongong campuses. The ministers also agreed to work together in areas such as early childhood care and teacher capacity building.