PUNE: To make students from the State globally competitive, the State Government is mulling pairing students from Maharashtra and western Australia for imparting skill credits. This will enable several students from Maharashtra to closely work along with students from Australia on various technical aspects.
The primary focus will be on sectors such as cyber security, oil and gas.
The first meeting of State Education Minister Vinod Tawde and a delegation from western Australia (TAFE) led by their Education Minister Suzanne Ellery and representatives of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), alongwith other state universities, was held on Monday.
The delegations discussed areas in which India and Australia can jointly work to provide technical and skill development to students from both demographics.
“Around 1,300 students from western Australia come to India every year for education. Similarly, if students from Maharashtra universities are able to visit the country, then possibilities of twinning students from Maharashtra and Australia can be initiated. Moreover, both the State and Australian representatives agreed that these students will interact with industry,” read an official statement.
“A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between universities from Maharashtra and Western Australia. The State Government will support this initiative,” assured Tawde.
The committee is yet to decide as to how many students will be selected and how collaborations will be undertaken.
“As it was the first meeting, it will be premature to specify details. But this discussion was mainly to explore and figure out in which areas we can collaborate. They are technologically strong in mining, oil and gas, cyber security etc. It is part of globalisation of higher education,” said SPPU Incubation, Innovation and Linkages Director Apoorva Palkar. “This will give students an opportunity to gain international credits as they will be certified by Australian stakeholders, which means their profiles will reflect international experience as well,” added Palkar.
When contacted, Ellery told, “The initiative has been undertaken so as to promote education in Australia. We will mainly focus on technical and skill development of students. Therefore, we are special.”
