India-Africa Cooperation In Education And Skills Development Being Expanded

Cooperation between India and Africa in the areas of Education and Skill Development were in the process of being expanded. This was highlighted at the India - Africa Higher Education and Skill Development Summit which was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

T S Tirumurti, Secretary – Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India said, "Government of India already had the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme for the past 50 years. This programme has helped many African students gain technical expertise in various disciplines from India.

He further mentioned that the Government was in the process of launching new programmes such as e-ITEC, E-VidyaBharati and e-Arogya Bharati. He also told that the visa regime for African students was being liberalized to facilitate more African students to study in India.

R Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India commented, "Study in India programme was being expanded to cover 30 countries in Africa. Seats were being created in the best institutes in the country for international students."

He mentioned that around one-third of the seats would be offered concessional fees. In addition, he stated that over 100 online courses were being launched which students in Africa could take advantage of.

Gifty Twum Ampofo, Deputy Minister for Education in charge of Technical Vocational Education & Training, Ghana while highlighting the reforms being undertaken in Ghana in the Technical and Vocational Education space said, "Ghana was keen to work with India and learn from India’s experience especially in terms of capacity building."

Buti Kgwaridi Manamela, Deputy Minister for Higher Education, South Africa highlighted the need to conclude a Mutual Recognition Agreement in terms of educational qualifications between India and South Africa. He stated that this had become necessary as there were many South African students studying in India. He highlighted that South Africa was in the process of developing a policy for internationalizing its education system and he felt that India had a major role to play.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry said, "India and Africa could cooperate in terms of developing and strengthening Institute-level collaborations; promote knowledge transfer, sensitisation and capacity building of professionals to support and strengthen quality assurance in Africa; conduct cross-border educational events in Africa, and support skill development in Africa."