Indian educational degrees to be recognised in Australia: What this means
Australia-India/March 17, 2023/By: Explained Desk/Source: https://indianexpress.com/
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced an ‘Australia-India education qualification recognition mechanism’ on Wednesday while on his two-day tour in Gujarat.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday (March 8) announced an ‘Australia-India education qualification recognition mechanism’. He also announced that Geelong’s Deakin University will be the first overseas university to open its branch campus in India, apart from a new ‘Maitri’ scholarship for Indian students to study in Australia for up to four years.
Addressing an event titled ‘Celebrating India-Australia Education Relationship’ in Ahmedabad, the Australian premier proclaimed that the latest set of announcements “is the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement agreed to by India with any country”.
PM Albanese, accompanied by a delegation, reached Ahmedabad on Wednesday and visited Sabarmati Ashram. He also celebrated Holi at Raj Bhavan with Governor Acharya Devvrat and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
Today (March 9), ahead of the fourth Test match between India and Australia, PM Albanese and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a lap of honour in the Narendra Modi Stadium to mark 75 years of India-Australia friendship. The duo also interacted with the players ahead of the game.
What exactly is the ‘Australia-India education qualification recognition mechanism’?
The new mechanism will mean that degrees obtained in Australia will now be recognised in India, and, vice-versa, degrees obtained in India will be recognised in Australia.
“This new mechanism means that if you are an Indian student studying or have studied in Australia, your hard-earned degree will be recognised when you return home,” PM Albanese said. “Or if you are a member of Australia’s very large Indian diaspora of 8,00,000 and growing, you will feel more confident that your Indian qualification will be recognised in Australia,” the Australian premier said.
This new mechanism was finalised by Australian Education Minister Jason Clare and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan during the former’s visit to Delhi last week. “India has other agreements with countries like the US. What makes this broader than the agreement with the US is it includes online courses also, apart from courses that Australian universities can run in India or at a standalone campus like the one that University of Wollongong is setting up,” Clare had told The Indian Express.
This agreement is expected to make it easier for Indians to go to Australia for both education and work, and vice-versa.
However, this move will not apply to professional qualifications just yet. Professional registrations of engineering, medicine and law graduates will remain outside the ambit of this agreement.
What did PM Albanese say about Australian universities setting up campuses in India?
The Australian premier also confirmed that Geelong’s Deakin University will be the first ever foreign university to have an offshore campus in India, to be set up in Gandhinagar’s GIFT City. First reported by The Indian Express on March 1, operations in Deakin University’s new offshore campus may start as soon as next year, with students being admitted to some post-graduate courses. The campus is set to offer courses in cyber security and business analytics, PM Albanese said.
The Indian Express had first reported on February 27 that two Australian universities, ranked among the world’s top 300, have reached out to the Union government to set up independent offshore campuses in India. The other university reportedly interested in setting up an Indian campus is the University of Wollongong (UoW) – this was further confirmed in PM Albanese’s speech.
“Of course, we will always welcome students to come and stay in Australia…but not everyone has the means or the ability to pack up their bags and study in another country… now Indian students can obtain Australian education without being in Australia,” he added.
Ravneet Pawha, Vice President (Global Alliances) and CEO (South Asia) of Deakin University, said, “This is a momentous occasion for both countries, and we are thrilled to have contributed to two ‘firsts’ in the Australia-India education sector story. The branch campus aims to provide a world-class post-graduate education to meet the industry’s skilled workforce demands within the country.”
Multiple governments since the 1990s have unsuccessfully attempted to allow the entry of foreign varsities in India. This is now finally set to change with the entry of Deakin and the prospective entry of UoW. In last year’s budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that world-class foreign universities and institutions would be allowed in the newly set up GIFT City to offer courses in financial management, FinTech, science, technology, engineering and mathematics “free from domestic regulations”.
First conceptualised as far back as 2007, the GIFT City is spread over 887 acres in Gandhinagar and comprises a multi-service Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which houses India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and an exclusive Domestic Tariff Area (DTA).
What is the new ‘Maitri’ scholarship?
A new scholarship was also announced for Indian students studying in Australia. The ‘Maitri’ scholarships will provide financial assistance to Indian students in Australia for as long as four years. “The scholarships are part of the wider Maitri (friendship) programme that seeks to boost cultural, educational and community ties between Australia and India,” PM Albanese said.
The ‘Maitri’ scholarship was first mentioned in a joint media statement by Australian ministers on February 14, 2022. “The $ 11.2 million Maitri Scholarships Program will attract and support high-achieving Indian students to study at Australian universities. It will showcase Australia’s globally renowned academic and research institutions, particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and health,” the statement had said.
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