Australia and India are forming a task force on qualifications recognition, which could increase Indian students’ prospects of getting into Australian colleges without going through the Australian education system.
The group, launched on Monday by Indian Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Ministers Scott Morrison, will address the recognition of online and hybrid learning, joint degrees, and offshore campuses.
“The task force will deliver a mechanism for expanding education qualification recognition between Australia and India by the end of the year, with implementation to take place in 2023,” said a statement by Australian Acting Minister for Education and Youth Stuart Robert.
It will also help in implementing Australia’s Strategy for International Education 2021-2030. This decision will serve to promote bilateral education collaboration on the acceptance of Australian qualifications while supporting the country’s education services’ long-term expansion.
“Australia has a longstanding and strong relationship with India across education, skills and research,” said Robert. “The task force will pave the way for new opportunities for graduates of both India and Australia to use their qualifications.”
According to Robert, the task force would work with stakeholders to discover options to recognise higher education certificates from Australia and India.
In addition, it will apply best principles and practices in recognising to give recommendations for improving these agreements. This engagement will benefit both countries by increasing educational cooperation and improving mobility results for Australian and Indian students and graduates, as well as educational institutions.
The development of qualification recognition procedures entails basically recognising a qualification achieved in one nation as equivalent to or comparable to one attained in another. This is critical for making it easier to apply to immigrate, work, or further your studies in another nation. In a variety of ways, this could make the process of studying abroad easier.
It may, for example, enable the students to apply to university using their national qualification rather than the international equivalent, which may not be accessible in all schools. As a result, a student may not need to take an additional qualification in a field that they have already accomplished in order to be admitted to an international institution. Agreements of recognition do not always guarantee that qualifications will be recognised as equal by another country.
Furthermore, reports indicate that it may assist immigration officials, businesses, and education providers in better understanding how a qualification corresponds to those in their own nations. This will facilitate Indians’ integration into the Australian education system and vice versa.
Universities Australia has welcomed the decision to form a special task force on qualification recognition between the two countries. As per the university sector’s governing body, this is “another confirmation of the strength of the bilateral education partnership between the two countries.”
According to Catriona Jackson, Chief Executive, qualification recognition is a developing area of relevance for Australia. The issue was recently raised in a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s acceptance of the “Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education.”
“We would expect that micro-credentials will also be on the table,” she added. “Ensuring ‘recognition’ of Australian degrees or micro-credentials is important for Indian students going home, and Australian students working in India. The bite-sized credentials are critical to upskill and reskill, and would be central to India’s push for 29 million more skilled workers by 2030.”
“This is an important and positive step forward, and Universities Australia looks forward to progress in achieving mutual qualification recognition,” Jackson added.
In terms of international education, India continues to be an important partner for Australia. According to Jackson, prior to the epidemic, more than 90,000 Indian higher education students favoured the Australian education system, and over 16% of the country’s student visa holders are of Indian nationality. As a result, increasing efforts have been made to enable Indians to study in Australia.
The Australian government unveiled a range of initiatives in February to strengthen its educational and cultural links with India. This includes the Maitri Scholars Program, which will grant approximately $11 million in Australian dollars over four years to Indian students studying in Australia.
Such measures are intended to counter the anti-Australian feeling that has grown among overseas students as a result of the protracted border closure, which has stopped them from returning to their universities.
According to a December research, Indian students are preferring to further their education overseas in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
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