Edu-leaders

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal has proposed the establishment of a META University with Germany. He said that two to three Indian universities can partner with German universities to conduct degree level courses.

The Minister discussed the proposal during a meeting with the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Dr Annettee Schavan in New Delhi.

Sibal said that setting up of such Meta-Universities will be a welcome step in collaborating further in the higher education sector between the two countries.

Two MoUs were signed – IIT Mandi with University of Stuttgart representing TU9 Germany and University of Hyderabad with Westfalesehe Wilhelmns University of Germany.

Sibal also said that opportunities in higher education and skill development in both the countries are enormous. The mutual recognition of degrees and diplomas awarded by the educational institutions of both the countries will be extremely helpful in enhancing the mobility of the students.

He suggested hosting an Indo-German Higher Education Summit in November – December this year to explore issues like development of junior faculty including doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, mutual recognition of qualification, particularly in vocational education and joint research programmes.

The Minister also emphasised on increasing the avenues for vocational education and setting up of joint ventures between the two countries under public private partnership (PPP) model for skill enhancement.

“Many courses at graduate and postgraduate levels are conducted in English language in Germany, so more Indian students can avail of the opportunity of studying there,” Sibal said. We can also make efforts to familiarise our students with the German language at school and higher education levels, he added.

The Indo-German Science Centre has already been established under the initiatives taken in the recent past.