New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met with Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Monday to discuss enhancing and expanding bilateral cooperation in school education, vocational training, and research, as reported by news agency PTI.
An official statement revealed that the discussions centered on strengthening the partnership through three main pillars: "Talent, Resource, and Market."
Pradhan highlighted India’s perspective of Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner, particularly in advancing deep tech, startups, and innovation ecosystems.
The statement further noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart have established a comprehensive framework to enhance India-Singapore cooperation, particularly in critical and emerging sectors.
Earlier that day, Pradhan also met Singapore's Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing, to explore ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various educational areas.
He underscored the importance of the National Education Policy 2020 in facilitating the internationalization of India's education system. The two ministers discussed the potential for overseas internship programs that would enable Indian students to gain practical experience with Singaporean companies.
To further enhance cultural connections between students from both countries, they considered the possibility of establishing partnerships between schools in India and Singapore. They also deliberated on joint research initiatives in areas of mutual interest, such as deep tech, medicine, and advanced materials.
The education ministers explored the idea of fostering academic and research collaboration through the twinning of schools and universities.
Pradhan emphasised opportunities for collaboration between Singapore's National Institute of Education and NCERT in areas like curriculum development, pedagogy, and teacher capacity-building. He extended an invitation to Minister Chan to visit India, expressing his commitment to advancing shared goals and strengthening educational ties between the two nations.
Additionally, Pradhan met with Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, to discuss deepening the India-Singapore Knowledge Partnership.
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During his visit to the National University of Singapore, he met President Tan Eng Chye, where they discussed leveraging complementary strengths to build knowledge bridges and enhance academic and research collaborations between NUS and leading Indian higher education institutions.
Pradhan emphasised that collaborations between NUS and Indian HEIs could create value in sectors such as deep startups, healthcare, advanced materials, digitalization, and sustainability.
His visit to Singapore, followed by a trip to Australia from October 20 to 26, 2024, aims to foster collaboration, participation, and synergy in critical areas of mutual interest in education.
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