Page 4294 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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Mumbai, arranged meetings and assisted in the delivery of a reception with the educational, tourism and business community of Mumbai. Mr Huber also facilitated the arrival and departure of the delegation.
India’s higher education system is the second largest in the world and the higher education student population exceeds 36.5 million people. We know that Indian students are highly mobile compared to those in other countries and have a long history of travelling abroad to study and work. These factors alone present an amazing opportunity for Canberra to increase linkages with prospective Indian students, education institutions and research bodies for mutual benefit.
As India grows, it will look to other countries for three things: to provide onshore training, to provide offshore education and to offer pathways for Indian workers to take up jobs overseas. Australia is well placed to partner with India across all three. As I mentioned, the delegation was joined by representatives from the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales Canberra, while the Australian National University had its own delegation travelling through India at the same time.
The University of Canberra hosted a lunch where I was able to witness the signing of several MOUs between the University of Canberra and a number of colleges affiliated with the University of Mumbai. Over the past two years, the University of Canberra has greatly expanded its presence across India by establishing close working relationships with various institutes, including prominent colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai, one of the world’s largest universities.
To date, engagement with these institutions has focused on articulation of the University of Mumbai programs to the University of Canberra, resulting in more students from these institutions studying in Canberra. However, with the signing of these MOUs we hope to build on this relationship by broadening the scope of engagement to establish cross-institutional partnerships. These MOUs signal the University of Canberra’s commitment, and indeed the city’s commitment, to building stronger relationships in India and affirms UC’s presence in the region.
In New Delhi, UNSW hosted a meeting where we met with their India country director and several affiliated institutions, including the George Institute for Global Health and the Energy and Resources Institute. This meeting enabled us to discuss the work that UNSW Canberra is doing in India with its partners and build awareness of the great work Canberra is doing in the fields of renewable energy, space, ICT and agritech. We also discussed solutions to shared challenges, including energy efficient community housing and community-based health care.
The delegation also met with the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, where we were able to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges India is facing in the higher education sector and to discuss opportunities for Canberra’s tertiary and research institutions to collaborate with the Indian government in developing solutions to these challenges.
I also had the privilege of meeting with the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, his Deputy Chief Minister and the health minister, as well as their officials. The
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