Strengthening India-UK higher education links on Prime Minister’s visit
Published on 19 February 2013
The Prime Minister has taken one of the largest delegations of
university representatives on this week's trade mission to India
signifying the importance of education to the UK-India
relationship.
Following education emerging as a key theme early in the
mission, Dr Joanna Newman, Director of the UK Higher Education
International Unit said the sector was pleased at the statements
the Prime Minister had made about Indian students being welcome in
the UK.
"Many UK universities and higher education institutions have
seen a drop in the number of Indian student enrolments. We are
therefore delighted by the Prime Minister's positive comments
reinforcing the post-study work opportunities available for those
students who want to study in the UK."
There are already strong links between the UK and Indian higher
education sectors.
The higher education objectives of the visit are to identify
further opportunities for UK and Indian government institutions to
work together to implement innovative approaches to education.
Additionally, sharing best practice to enhance the employability of
students through initiatives such as two way mobility and
internship will be explored.
During the visit a number of key partnerships and initiatives
will be announced:
- Research collaboration between University of Cambridge, the
Non-Ferrous Technology Development Centre (NFTDC, Hyderabad), and
RTM Nagpur University which is achieving major breakthroughs in
fuel cell technology.
- £11 million funding from the Government of India to establish a
Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CCBT) which is a
collaborative project between researchers at India's National
Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), the Institute for Stem Cells
and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) and the University of
Cambridge.
- Cardiff University working in collaboration with the University
of Hyderabad and LV Prashad Eye Institute in Hyderabad to share
best practice in the teaching of optometry
- Scholarships for Indian students to attend the University of
Exeter International Summer School in 2013 is offering 50
scholarships for students studying Masters degrees
- The University of Warwick will host the £92 million National
Automotive Innovation Campus in partnership between WMG, Jaguar
Land Rover, Tata Motors European Technical Centre and the UK
Government.
- The British Library will announce the launch of the Mewar
Ramayana, bringing together for the first time in almost 200 years,
the dispersed parts of the lavishly illustrated copy of this text
on an innovative digital platform from May 2013 through a major
collaborative partnership with Indian partners.
- Indian students to get free access to top UK courses through
the Futurelearn portal, the online company being launched in July
2013 by The Open University to deliver massive open Online courses
(MOOCs)
During the three day visit the delegation will meet with key
representatives from the Indian Planning Commission and Department
of Education, Indian universities, research centres and associated
organisations and Government departments.
The UK delegation comprises the UK Higher Education
International Unit, representing the UK HE sector, with
Vice-Chancellors from Cambridge, Cardiff, Exeter, LSE, Open
University, Warwick and the CEOs of the British Library and the
British Council.
~Ends~
For more information, please contact: Cat Finlayson,
Communications and Public Affairs Adviser, UK HE International
Unit, 020 7419 5609, catriona.finlayson@international.ac.uk
Notes to Editor
1.The UK Higher Education International Unit (IU) is a
central observatory and intelligence unit on HE
Internationalisation and European policy developments for higher
education institutions. The IU was formed on 1 August 2010 by
merging the UK HE International Unit and the UK HE Europe Unit. www.international.ac.uk