Foreign partnerships needed to boost skill-based education, says minister

Shimla, May 6

Education Minister Rohit Thakur today said the state government was looking forward to more international partnerships to boost skill-based education under the New Education Policy (NEP).

He presided over a meeting with the delegates of Pennsylvania Global and Education HUB (PennHub) to discuss the modalities for the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for promoting strategic partnership between higher education institutions and exchange programmes.

He said, “The state government has signed a letter of intent with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, US, for purely academic partnership.”

The minister said that the government along with PennHUB would work towards improving diversity, inter-cultural awareness and understanding of students. “This will help in creating stronger connections between the university and colleges in Himachal, which will foster diverse educational exchanges and thereby opening more opportunities for Himachali students to study in the US,” he added.

The minister said, “The partnership will also facilitate collaborative research and curricular programmes for better employability, besides encouraging student exchange programmes and professional development training for educators and administrators.” He added, “Himachal has made tremendous progress in augmenting its capacity in the education sector and the present government is focusing on developing a skill-based education system”.

Kanika Chaudhary, Special Envoy to India and the UAE from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, detailed the objectives and scope of the MoU. She said that PannHub would provide all guidance and support to the state government in implementing the MoU.