MoU for Cooperation in the Field of Higher Education Signed Between India and Germany

Two MoUs were signed between India and Germany yesterday - a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of Higher Education and a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) regarding Promotion of German as a Foreign Language in India. The MoUs were signed by the Human Resource Development Minister, Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju at the 2nd Inter Governmantal Consultations held at Berlin. The HRM is accompanying the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh during his visit to Germany. The Chancellor of Germany, Prof. Dr. Ms. Johanna Wanka, Federal Minister for Education and Research of Germany was also present on the occasion. The MoU for cooperation in Higher Education envisages devising mechanisms of co-operation and sets the agenda for improving educational relations between the two countries. The MoU chiefly supports a new jointly funded programme entitled “Indo-German Strategic Partnerships in Higher Education (IGSP)” to intensify institutional linkages and to open up new and innovative areas of cooperation. India and Germany have committed to earmark 3.5 million Euros from each side for an initial period of four years (2013-2016) to support programmes under IGSP. Federal Minister of Germany Dr. Wanka expressed hope that the hoped that the two MoUs signed will further strengthen the collaborative efforts. Both leaders noted that German language is highly sought after in India and therefore the need to provide quality teaching staff in schools as well as Universities to impart language training will be felt more in the coming years. During the Inter Governmental Consultations, Dr. PallamRaju also laid emphasis on the following areas: Max Planck Institute Partnerships for encouraging basic research in Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research(IISERs); Fraunhoffer Model of collaboration between industry and academia(applied research) for IITs and NITs and TU9 universities from the German side; Research in Social sciences and Humanities in which Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) will be a major partner from the Indian side; and use of ICT in intercultural exchanges particularly comparative linguistics of Sanskrit and German languages.