The British Council awarded 12 new and two top-up grants worth £500,000 for industry-academia partnerships across India and the United Kingdom (UK), as part of its Going Global Partnerships (GGP) programme. The announcement was made at the India-UK Higher Education Conference in Delhi today, September 20, organised as part of the largest-ever delegation of the UK’s education sector to India and representatives from India’s education sector.
Over the week from September 18-22, the delegation will convene with government officials from both central and state governments in India, engage in discussions with policymakers, and hold meetings with senior university leaders representing 19 Indian states. These interactions will take place across the national capital, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Chennai, according to a press release from the British Council.
In Delhi, the delegation will be visiting a couple of institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Ashoka University. This year, the foremost focus of the conference was to promote the internationalisation of higher education and the promotion of transnational education with updates from the GGP programme, which has enabled 26 partnerships across 15 educational institutions in just Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).
Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, Sir Steve Smith, International Education Champion, Government of UK, Maddalaine Ansell, Director Education, British Council, Alison Barrett MBE, Director India, British Council and Rittika Chanda Parruck, Director Education India, British Council are part of the delegation.
“Internationalisation is a cornerstone of the National Education Policy 2020. The government is actively crafting regulations to promote collaborations between educational institutions worldwide. The relationship between the UK and India in the realm of education has never been stronger. Both nations have signed an MoU for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications. This landmark agreement will facilitate the mobility of students, fostering a vibrant exchange of knowledge and ideas, and enriching education on both sides," Dr Sarkar said.
Alison Barrett said, “We are delighted to organise the India-UK Higher Education Conference 2023. Collaboration in education and research stands as a key tenet of the India-UK bilateral relationship and we look forward to the meetings between representatives from 31 UK higher education institutions and bodies, coordinated by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and key education stakeholders from India."
According to the press release, the GGP has "enabled 70 grants of about £2 million delivered to 155 universities (100 in India, 55 in the UK) and 13 industry collaborations, impacting over 5000 students. The GGP has enabled the development of courses that allow easy credit comparability while meeting global standards of education. The programme has enabled 36 new courses, with six courses aimed at climate studies and sustainability."
