Dharmendra Pradhan, UAE Education Minister Ink Agreement To Strengthen Educational Collaboration

During a meeting with his UAE counterpart, Dharmendra Pradhan said that India and UAE can work together to build a knowledge bridge to cement civilizational connect between the two countries.

India-UAE sign agreement for Educational Cooperation

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met the Minister of Education UAE, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Al Falasi in Abu Dhabi where both the ministers signed an agreement for educational cooperation. The agreement pushes on facilitating student mobility between both the nations and other key initiatives like joint research programmes, designing courses, organising and participation in conferences, lectures, symposia, courses, scientific and educational exhibitions in areas of mutual interest held in both countries.

Dharmendra Pradhan, who is on a 3-day visit to UAE, also visited 42 Abu Dhabi, a School for Disruptive Learning. The education minister's visit to the UAE is focused on strengthening collaboration between the two nations in areas of mutual interests in the education and skill domain. During his meeting with his UAE counterpart, Dharmendra Pradhan stressed that India, which is a global talent hotspot, and the UAE, which is a global economic hotspot should embark upon collaborative efforts to build a knowledge bridge to cement our civilizational connect, as per an official PIB release. 

Besides discussing the progress on points discussed during the meeting on the sidelines of the 4th EdWG as a part of the G20 India, both the ministers also reviewed bilateral engagements in education and skill development between the two nations. Both the leaders also expressed their satisfaction on the progress towards mutual recognition of academic and skill qualifications, recognition of Indian institutes in the UAE among others. Both the leaders further stressed upon the continued efforts in the aforementioned areas. 

During the meeting, both the education ministers further expressed their commitment to bolster and strengthen institutional mechanisms and ramp up the process of smoother mobility of student and workforce between the two countries. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also thanked H.E Dr. Ahmed Belhoul for supporting schools in the UAE  that follow the Indian curriculum. Ways to facilitate student exchange programmes between the two countries were also explored during the meet. 

The agreement between India and UAE also stresses upon sarong information in the following areas:

• Regulations, legal structures and best practices in general and higher education in both the nations. 
• Framework and policies in general and higher education including national qualifications frameworks in order to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications between the two  countries.
• Frameworks, policies in the areas of gifted and talented skills development and counselling and well-being.
• Facilitation of academic collaboration between Higher Education Institutions from both the countries for offering Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programmes.

Besides the aforementioned information sharing, the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the two countries, also envisages the following provisions:

• Cooperation in the field of Capacity Development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teaching staff. 
• Facilitating the creation of a Joint Working Group (JWG) chaired by a representative of the Ministry of Education from India and UAE. The JWG shall meet at least once a year alternately to review the implementation of this memorandum.