European Union keen on improving cooperation with Indian universities

The Deputy Head of European Union delegation to India, Cesare Onestini, said the European Union is keen on enhancing cooperation with Indian universities and welcoming more students to tap the resources available abroad. India has best of students but is yet to create best of institutions, keeping in mind its population size, on the other hand European Union countries have best of varsities but not best of students.

According to a report in Press Trust of India, Cesare Onestini said, "There is abundance of resources and funding opportunities available for the Indian students keen on studying there but the number of people who come forward to have an exposure of these opportunities is very disappointing."

The Minister and Deputy Head of the Mission, European Union delegation to India and Bhutan, was addressing representatives from varsities across Delhi during a workshop on collaborative links between Indian and European Union universities at the inter- institutional level. The European Union delegation to India in association with the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) is organising a series of workshops in India for higher educational institutions to discuss participation opportunities in European Union -funded programmes.

While the first workshop was organised in the national capital, the remaining two will be in Pune and Chennai during this week. "Cooperation between universities will support India's drive to be at the forefront of worldwide developments, ensuring that Indian and European qualifications are equally recognised and valued," said Brian Toll, Senior Policy Advisor, International Cooperation in Education and Youth(ICEY), European Union.

Concerns about the disparities in the credit transfer system between India and European Union nations for a few programmes were also raised during the workshop. ''European Union has a credit transfer system on the lines of that in India. But for instance, for a Master's degree course, European Union has a duration of one year, so Indian students are apprehensive about the acceptability of the degree in India. We have raised these concerns with the HRD ministry as well and the qualification recognition issue is being deliberated upon," said Furqan Qamar, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities.