The 3rd Australia-India Education and Skills Council meeting (AIESC) held in New Delhi today, was chaired by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, Government of India and Shri Jayant Chaudhary, Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Education, from the Indian side. From Australia, the meeting was chaired by Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, Government of Australia and Hon. Mr. Andrew Giles MP, Australian Minister for Skills & Training.

The meeting was also attended by Dr Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State for Education and DoNER; Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for International Education, Govt of Australia,  Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, School Education, Dr. Vineet Joshi; Secretary, Higher Education; Ms. Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; senior government officials from both the sides and Vice-Chancellors & representatives of Australian universities.

The 3rd AIESC meeting reviewed the ongoing initiatives under school education, higher education, research, and skill development, and reaffirmed the commitment to deepen institutional linkages, expand mobility pathways, and strengthen regulatory cooperation.  AIESC is a bi-national body that guides the strategic direction and strengthens the partnership between the two countries in the fields of the education, training, research and skill ecosystem.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Pradhan said that the 3rd AIESC served as a great opportunity to build upon the progress made since the inaugural meeting of AIESC, break new ground in Australia-India education, skills and research partnership, open wider avenues for India’s youth, and further deepen our bilateral engagements across the full spectrum of education and skill development as well as in areas of national and global priority.

He appreciated the Australian Ministers and the delegation for the substantive discussions on the agenda items— school education, higher education and research and skills and also for their vigorous efforts to elevate the AIESC platform to a higher-level.

Shri Pradhan further said that education, skills and research are the key pillars of India-Australia Strategic Partnership. Both India and Australia remain committed to working together and collaborating more in Early Childhood Care and Education, technology adoption, sports education, building institutional capacities, empowering teachers, preparing youth for critical and emerging areas, like AI, advanced materials, semiconductors, MedTech, energy, and sustainability and also for innovative skilling partnerships, he added.

Taking forward the spirit of collaboration and ambition, the Minister urged all stakeholders to successfully implement the outcome-centric and in-depth discussions held today across school, higher and skill education and to ensure that the bridges built today continue to grow stronger in the years to come.

He mentioned that the agenda today focused on integrating sports curriculum into school and higher education. This marks the beginning of a wide-ranging partnership in the field of sports. Shri Pradhan said that both sides should also explore opportunities for collaboration in the area of Hackathons at both School and Higher Education levels to address the pressing challenges of everyday life.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon Jason Clare MP, Australian Minister for Education, said “This is a win-win. It is good for Australia and it is good for India. “It is a great sign of the strength of the relationship between India and Australia.”.

Highlighting the depth and uniqueness of the India–Australia skilling partnership, Shri Jayant Chaudhary stated that the two countries share a one-of-its-kind institutional platform that is translating discussions into tangible outcomes through structured frameworks ,such as, the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications (MRQ) 2023 , a dedicated Skills Mapping Framework for demand assessment, and the signing of three key MoUs to strengthen cooperation.

He noted that sectors ,such as agriculture which have already created functional mobility pathways for utilising recognised qualifications and stressed the need to replicate this success across emerging domains. Emphasising youth-centric collaborations, he underlined that both sides have agreed that sports is a major area of cooperation, particularly in the context of marquee global sporting events to be hosted by both the countries in the near future.

Further, Hon Andrew Giles MP, Australian Minister for Skills & Training, said that “Australia and India share a critical partnership which is invaluable to progressing both nations’ skills and training capabilities. Growing our nation’s footprint represents another significant step forward for this relationship.”

Elaborating further, Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for International education said, “Today’s announcement reflects the strength of the Australia-India education relationship. By bringing world-class Australian education directly to India, UNSW has reinforced the commitment made by other Australian institutions to educate and support Indian students to access high quality education”

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also held a bilateral meeting with his Australian Counterpart, Hon Jason Clare MP, and Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for International Education, today. During the meeting the Ministers reviewed the existing cooperation in education, innovation and research and had meaningful discussions on further deepening engagements from ‘Pre-school to PhD’. Shri Pradhan stressed that fostering critical thinking in our students and creating an AI-ready generation are priorities for India. He further said that both the Ministers remain committed adding new dynamism to the vibrant India-Australia educational partnership, including through collaborations between HEIs of both our countries, joint research funding in areas of strategic importance and smoother pathways for two-way mobility, among others.

A key highlight of the day was the handing over of the Letter of Intent (LoI) to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) under the University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, by Dr. Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Higher Education and Chairman UGC.  UNSW is one of Australia’s premier universities and an academic institution ranked top-20 globally in the QS World University Rankings.  This is in addition to the Letter of Intent given to 4 Australian universities earlier this year, including La Trobe University, Victoria University, Western Sydney University and  University of Western Australia, to establish campuses in India. With this LoI, we now have 7 Australian Universities with 8 campuses across India.

Discussions were organised around the following thematic pillars:

A. School Education and Higher Education & Research
● early childhood education and care collaborations
● teacher professional development
● sports integration in school education
● avenues for a CBSE-affiliated school in Australia
● updates on foreign university campuses
● online and blended learning
● announcement of 10 new SPARC-funded India–Australia research projects in frontier areas such as AI, quantum, biodiversity, MedTech, sustainability, smart mobility, and space (₹9.84 crores sanctioned, i.e., 1.64 million AUD). With this, out of a total of 865 projects, 129 are with top Australian universities, with a combined financial value of 16 million AUD.

B. Skills, Training & Workforce Development
• joint curricula in priority sectors
• bridge courses and mutual recognition pathways
• partnerships between NSTIs and Australian TAFEs
• new opportunities in hospitality, construction, agriculture, digital technologies, and health sciences
• operationalisation of Centres of Excellence, including the NCoE agenda

During the day, multiple Indian and Australian higher educational institutions and skilling bodies exchanged MoUs/LoIs to deepen cooperation:

1. LoI on Early Childhood Education (GoI & Australia): Alignment of the CBSE ECCE curriculum with Australia’s Certificate III in ECEC, promoting workforce development and curriculum innovation.
2. James Cook University & Government of Odisha: Establishment of a Marine Ecological Research Centre linked to the Odisha Marine Biotechnology & Innovation Corridor.
3. University of Western Australia, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Mumbai & Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad: Collaboration in mining exploration, mining logistics, and mining automation and sustainability.
4. Deakin University & Confederation of Indian Industry (CII): National scaling of Deakin’s Global Job Readiness Program to improve employability outcomes for Indian learners.
5. Deakin University & IIT Roorkee: Setting up a Centre of Excellence in Disaster Resilience.
6. Western Sydney University & Government of Andhra Pradesh: Agricultural research and innovation through linking WSU to Andhra Pradesh’s Ratan Tata Innovation Hub.
7. Monash University & Government of Uttar Pradesh: Establishment of a Teaching Excellence Academy for large-scale teacher professional development.
8. University of Western Australia (UWA) & Skill Council for Mining Sector: Development of a global mining talent pool between Australia and India.

The Australian Minister, Hon. Jason Clare, invited Shri Dharmendra Pradhan for the 4th AIESC meeting in Australia. Both Ministers agreed that more deliverables and outcomes should be achieved within a clear timeline.

***

AK