The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, held a high level bilateral meet with a German delegation led by German Federal Minister of Education & Research, Anja Karlilczek on cooperation in the field of Education, in New Delhi today. Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Shri Sanjay Dhotre & Secretary School Education & Literacy Shri Amit Khare were also present on this occasion.During the meeting, two important instruments of cooperation were signed. First was an addendum to the MOU on Cooperation in the Field of Higher Education, signed by MHRD and BMBF on 11.04.2013, through which funding period of Indo-German Partnership has been extended from 1st July, 2020 to 30th June, 2024. Second MOU was signed between University Grants Commission, India and DAAD, Germany for extending the joint partnership programme under “Indo German Partnerships in Higher Education” (IGP) with the objective to enhance long-term partnerships between German and Indian Institutions of higher education by opening up new and innovative areas of cooperation; to enable the participating institutions to develop teaching and research profiles for their partnerships; to contribute significantly to the internationalization strategies of the participating institutions of higher education and thus to enhance the mutual cooperation between the institutions on the whole.
Shri Pokhriyal briefed the German delegation about the various transformational new initiatives undertaken by the Indian government during last five years for improving the quality of Higher Education. He specifically mentioned the Scheme for promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) under which 20 joint research activities in various German institutions have started. Similarly, DUO-India fellowship was launched with the intention to improve the balanced mobility of students as well as Faculty between India and 14 European countries (including Germany). ‘Study in India’ programme has been started with the aim of providing quality education to the international student community. Under this Programme, Short term courses related to Yoga, Ayurveda, Naturopathy etc. have also been started.The HRD Minister emphasised upon the need to expand research in areas of climate change impacts on coastal infrastructure and the adaption strategies regarding water resources, studies related to coastal vulnerability, extreme events etc. Upon being requested by the German Minister, Shri Pokhriyal also kindly agreed to extend support to Germany in starting courses of Yoga, Ayurveda and Naturopathy which enjoy great popularity in Germany.The decisions taken in the meeting will help in furthering the relationship between the two countries in the field of education and improving the research ecosystem and will go a long way in exploring the possibilities for future collaborations in various fields of mutual interests.