An Education Summit on “Collaborations and Strategic Partnerships” organized by The Council of EU Chamber of Commerce in India was held at Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai on 31 March 2022. Mr. Suresh P Prabhu, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) presided over the event as the Chief Guest, while Dr. Michelle Stewart, President, European Association for International Education (EAIE); Dr. Rajnish Jain, Secretary and CVO, University Grants Commission (UGC) honoured as the Guests of Honour.Stakeholders from different domains of the education sector discussed on the most pressing issues.
The panellists of EU India Education Submit included Dr. Jakob Williams Ørberg, Counsellor for Innovation, Research and Higher Education, Royal Danish Embassy; Mr. Apoorv Mahendru, Deputy Director, DAAD Regional Office, New Delhi; Mr. Gerry Kelly, Consul General, Consulate General of Ireland; Mr. Bart De Jong, Consul General, Consulate General of Netherlands; Ms. Katarzyna Aleksy, Director, Department of Programmes for Institutions, Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA); Ms. Vanesa Álvarez Franco, Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Economic & Commercial Office in Mumbai, Embassy of Spain in India; Mr. Erik Malmberg, Consul, Consulate General of Sweden; and Dr. P.K. Shajahan, Professor of Social Work and Dean, Academic Affairs, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
The Summit aimed to foster a long-term sustainable partnership with Academia, Research Organizations, Industry and Government Representatives from Europe and India for internationalization of higher education in specific areas and to develop joint programmes that have both local and overseas acceptance in EU countries. Key areas of future technology required for the development of rural economy and rural youth to upscale their skills for employability overseas, strategies that could help in enhancing opportunities for the EU enterprises to work on joint venture projects that have national priorities based on the millennium goals like climate change, adoption sustainable practices, digital transformation and intelligent transportation system were also discussed. The Summit identified the need to support inter-cultural competence and prepare the students and professionals for a multilingual workforce in order to develop all-inclusive capabilities.
Dr. Easow, Head, School of Liberal Arts and Applied Sciences represented Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science at the event and summarised the discussion and proposed the vote of thanks.