Australia is eager to collaborate and work closely with industry, the training sector and government, to explore innovative and creative ways to realise the potential for increased skills partnership.
Australia has expressed great interest in extending its skill engagement with India and working closely to explore innovative and creative ways to realise the potential for increased partnership in the area. Australian education and training minister, Simon Birmingham, while addressing a large gathering of high-profile leaders at the closing dinner of Australia India Leadership Dialogue 2016, mentioned that his country deeply values its close and productive bilateral skills relationship with India, and both nations share much in common with skills collaborations.
He appreciated the fact that with a majority of young population, India faces both an opportunity and a very formidable challenge to expand the capacity and quality of the skills training sector. He expressed that India’s target of skilling 400 million people by 2022 was impressive, and mind-blowing by Australian standards.
Australian vocational education is internationally recognised for its unique qualification structure, industry-focussed training, all of which lead to high employability outcomes. This collaboration will help India meet its enormous vocational training demand.
Australia wanted to remain a country of choice for Indian students and aspires to be a partner of choice to India in the education sector. According to Birmingham, there will be a firm focus on opportunities in higher education, scholarship programmes, two-way exchange research programmes as well as vocational and training courses.
Highligting the Australia–India education relationship, Birmingham mentioned that they are working to ensure that they identify the important issues that are barriers to the successful participation of students from India who come to Australia, or of training providers from Australia going to India. Most importantly, they are seeking to ensure that they maximise and enhance the two-way flow of students, because it is a true mutual exchange and process of building a better, stronger understanding across the two nations.
The minister said that Australia was aspiring to create the knowledge and opportunities to help both nations become stronger and more prosperous. Australia’s Kangan Institute is already working with the Government of Gujarat and Maruti Suzuki to build India’s first international Automobile Centre of Excellence.
Indian and Australian leaders including Shadow Treasurer, Chris Bowen, Assistant Minister to Prime Minister, Senator James McGrath, the newly- appointed Indian High Commissioner A M Gondane, Melbourne-based Consul General, Manika Jain, former Australia India Institute (AII) Director Amitabh Mattoo and AII director, Craig Jeffrey attended the event.
