'India an opportunity for Australian educators'

New Delhi, April 11: Australian Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham on Tuesday said India is a significant opportunity for the educators of his country and Australia will contribute to education, which is a strategically important sector. “India represents a significant opportunity for both Australian educators and students, which is why the commitments we’ve secured will continue to deliver on what is a strategically important relationship for both countries and our respective education sectors,” a release from the minister’s office cited him as saying. “I am confident that, thanks to the positive discussions had in India, it won’t be too long until we see Australian universities and training providers complement their significant numbers of Indian students studying in Australia with a significant presence in India, too,” he said. There are over 60,000 Indian students in Australia and increasing number of Australian students are also coming to study in India.

Birmingham is accompanying Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who arrived here on Sunday on a four-day state visit to India.

According to the statement, during the ongoing visit of Turnbull, cooperation in the education sector was discussed in the meetings with Prime Minister rendra Modi, Minister for Human Resource and Development Prakash Javadekar and Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap Rudy.

Both Javadekar and Rudy recognised the quality of Australian education and instructed officials to support Australian universities and training providers to establish themselves in the Indian market, the statement said. On the participation in the Skill India, Birmingham said: “Australian educators are well-placed to help the Indian government achieve its ambitious target of upskilling 400 million Indians by 2022 and I’m pleased that Minister Rudy has endorsed the value of Australian ‘train the trainer’ courses being delivered by Australian providers.” (IANS)