New Delhi, Oct 21: India views Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner, particularly in advancing deep tech, startups, and innovation ecosystems, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday after a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong.
They discussed on elevating and expanding the bilateral cooperation in school education, vocational education and research, between the two nations.
The discussions focused on strengthening the partnership through three key pillars—‘Talent, Resource & Market.’
Pradhan highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong have outlined a robust framework to elevate India-Singapore cooperation into a comprehensive partnership, including collaboration in critical and emerging sectors.
Earlier in the day, Pradhan met his counterpart, Singapore’s Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing, to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation across various areas of education.
The Union Education Minister emphasized the significance of the National Education Policy 2020 in facilitating the internationalization of India’s education system. The two ministers explored avenues for overseas internship programs, allowing Indian students to gain practical experience in Singaporean companies.
To further strengthen cultural connect between students of both countries the possibility of twinning of schools in India and Singapore was discussed. Joint Research collaboration in areas of mutual interest like deep tech, medicine, advance materials, etc. was also discussed.
They also deliberated on fostering academic and research collaboration through the twinning of schools and universities in both countries.
Pradhan highlighted opportunities for collaboration between Singapore's National Institute of Education and NCERT in areas such as curriculum development, pedagogy, and teacher capacity-building.
Extending an invitation to Minister Chan to visit India, Pradhan expressed his commitment to advancing shared goals and enhancing educational ties between the two nations.
Pradhan also met with Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, to discuss deepening the India-Singapore Knowledge Partnership.
Both leaders emphasized the importance of working closely to elevate bilateral cooperation in education and expand collaborative efforts to achieve shared objectives.
Pradhan also visited the National University of Singapore and met with Prof. Tan Eng Chye, President of the university. They discussed leveraging complementary strengths to build knowledge bridges, strengthen academic and research collaborations, and deepen engagements between NUS and top Indian higher education institutions across all academic fronts.
Pradhan emphasized that NUS and Indian HEIs can collaborate to create value in areas such as deep start-ups, healthcare, advanced materials, digitalization, and sustainability, among others. The Minister also highlighted that a key focus area of NEP 2020 is enhancing access to quality higher education for the youth of India and the internationalization of its education system.
