As the UK-India signed FTA last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the deepening of partnership between India and the UK in the education sector, perhaps one of the most exciting sectors for cooperation in the coming years.
They welcomed the opening of the campus of the Southampton University in Gurugram, India recently. India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, celebrated the opportunities that the new University of Southampton Delhi promises to bring to Indian students at a ceremony held to open the new campus. It's the first such foreign university campus to be opened in India under the New Education Policy of India and at least five more UK universities have pledged to opening similar campuses in India.
Reception to mark opening of India campuses of UK universities
On 9 July, the High Commission of India, London organised an event at India House to celebrate the India-UK Education collaboration. The event highlighted the milestone of opening of India campuses of UK universities in India under the New Education Policy of India. Besides University of Southampton in attendance were representatives from University of Liverpool, University of York, University of Aberdeen, Coventry University and Queen’s University Belfast who have received the Letters of Intent to establish campuses in India.
The High Commissioner of India to the UK, H.E. Vikram Doraiswami congratulated all six partner universities, and welcomed others present to structure new ties with India, ranging from joint research, joint degrees, innovation campuses, faculty and student exchanges, to new campuses, based on both demand and capacities of extraordinary quality.
H.E. Vikram Doraiswami, addressing the dignitaries that included vice chancellors and pro-vice chancellors of several universities, spoke about the renewed relationship between UK and India in the field of education.
In an illustrious opening speech, he said, “…We have known each other as cultures and as civilisations for the better part of 400 years. But as in any long-standing relationship, it always needs to be refreshed and renewed. And the process of refreshing and renewable relationship comes from getting to know more about each other and from working with each other towards challenges of the present and what we believe will be the challenges of the future. Beyond this, there is also the critical piece, which is, how do we invest in the next generation, and how do we ensure that the next generation has a better sense of the opportunity and the space that we offer each other for our mutual benefit. There is, in other words, no substitute for what universities and the larger world of academia offer in terms of future of our nation.”
Speaking about studying abroad and the scale of demands v/s interests in India, he said, “Today, part of our common story where there are large numbers of Indian students coming to the UK and to several other important partner countries, Canada, US, Australia, to study.
“There is, of course, a long history of Indians being almost obsessed about the idea of getting the best possible education for their children. It's part of the sort of cultural makeup of India, in which greatest investment you can make for your next generation is to give them the best possible opportunities to study has long been part of the India UK story…
“But the scale and state of aspiration, the state of demand in India, is such that it is never going to be enough to have only those who can afford to come abroad be the beneficiaries of quality education.
“In other words, we need major investment coming in, into the university sector. And we are after the quality of your universities and your academia, and the opportunity to put fresh life down into our university system.
The High Commissioner further added, “We think UK is the obvious partner to help build not just new university campuses, but also partnerships across the board. Department based partnerships, it could be specialty based partnerships, research based partnerships, joint degree partnerships. It could be opportunities to have exchanges of faculty. It could be all or even few of the above...”
University of Southampton Vice Chancellor, Professor Mark E. Smith, on opening of the campus in a statement said, “The University of Southampton Delhi offers students the chance to earn a world-class degree at a university that is renowned for its excellence in teaching, global research, and connections to business and industry partners.
“Our Delhi campus builds on our long-standing relationship with India and fulfils our ambition to become a truly global institution, connecting students from around the world through Southampton’s ability to deliver outstanding education and world-leading research which has the power to transform lives.”
The event at India House also witnessed a speech by the inaugural ICCR Chair of Indian Studies Professor Prakash Chand Kandpal, originally from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. The ICCR Chair of India Studies has been established after a MoU was signed between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and University of Southampton.
There were also presentations on topics such as ‘The unrealised translational potential of Aryuryog: Understanding and deciphering potential of established Ayurvedic remedies’ in the field of dementia by Prof Amritpal Mudher from University of Southampton and another by post-doctoral research fellow Asmita Maitra, also from Southampton University on the topic of ‘Carbon capture through enhanced weathering of Indian industrial and mine waste materials’.
