Union Minister of Human Resource and Development Kapil Sibal has underlined the importance of partnership between India and the USA in the educational arena. He was addressing the US India Business Council.
“The two countries through partnership can find the solutions for tomorrow. In today’s interconnected world, problems do not remain confined to the region in which they emerge. The solutions to global problems can only be arrived at by studying them in the regions that they exist,” he said.
The minister pointed out that India is the land of opportunity, with its vast demographic advantage. He said that in fact this demographic advantage must be harnessed in a manner to serve the world. He also spoke about the need in India to vastly scale up college and university infrastructure to meet the goals of a GER of 30% in 10 years.
Sibal wondered as to what would be the structure of universities in the 21st century. He said how an enhanced educational partnership between the two countries could help find solutions for these challenges.
The US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. William Burns, speaking on the occasion stated that education is one of the pillars of the strategic partnership between India and the US. He said that they had high expectations of this relationship in the years ahead.
During the programme, a joint initiative of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Rutgers University, ‘India Centre for Sustainable Growth and Talent Development’ was also inaugurated. This programme will see collaboration between the two institutions in the areas of Women’s Leadership and on Vocational Education Programmes.
