India, Germany to strengthen ties in education sector

New Delhi: Government today approved a proposal to bolster ties between India and Germany in higher education sector especially in the field of research, skill development and faculty development.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval to the enhanced ties with the signing of Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between the two countries with some minor amendments in the earlier MoU.

The JDI will facilitate implementation of 'Indo-German Partnerships in Higher Education'.

"By signing the JDI, the term 'Strategic' will be deleted from the title of the programme to make it 'Indo-German Partnership in Higher Education' and the funding period for the programme will be changed from 2015-19 to 2016-20," said a government statement.

Reacting to a question on strengthening the education partnership in light of the controversy over replacing German with Sanskrit as the third language in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools, Union

Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "We do not want to make the relationship between India and Germany Sanskrit-centric".
He underlined the need for cooperation between the two countries to further ties in the education sphere.

The strengthened education relationship through the JDI will enable higher education institutions in both countries to benefit mutually to enhance innovative partnerships in the field of education, research and skill development.

It will be beneficial for faculty development and to foster advanced research in the identified priority areas of challenges for India, the statement said.