MoU inked with British Council to impart global skills for students

Bengaluru, March 11: The Government of Karnataka and the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural exchange, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, to renew their partnership in the area of Education, English, and Arts aimed at creating global opportunities for the youth of Karnataka.

The MoU was signed at Vikasa Soudha in presence of Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Higher Education, and B.C. Nagesh, Minister of Primary & Secondary Education. G. Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, GoK and Janaka Pushpanathan, Director British Council South India signed the MoU which lasts for 3 years.

Speaking on the occasion, Ashwatha Narayana said the extended 3 years MoU would enable to develop the skills of faculty and students from higher education institutions in the State and to Expand collaborations through British Council initiatives such as the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) and the Going Global Partnerships.

This MoU also paves the way to develop sustainable partnerships in research and innovation between centers of excellence (CoE) in both, the UK and Karnataka, across areas of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, ed-tech, biosciences, and cybersecurity, he stated.

Explaining the benefits Naraya explained, “The MoU allows to build initiatives to improve English and employability skills of young people attending industrial training institutions (ITIs), engineering and management courses. This facilitates student mobility between universities in India and the UK and enhances partnership opportunities between institutes in Karnataka and the UK for internationalisation in the curricula”.

Janaka Pushpanathan, Director South India, British Council said that the MoU would allow developing further initiatives to improve English teaching and enhance employability skills in schools and training institutes, building capacity in higher education & research, and promote co-operation on inspiring young people in the state through arts and culture.

On the occasion, Steve Smith, International Education Champion, Govt. of UK, extended the invitation for Ministers to participate in the Education World Forum (EWF) scheduled to be held in London in May 2022 to explore further partnerships for Karnataka.

Adrion Chadwick, Regional Director, British Council, South Asia, Dr.S.Selvakumar, Principal Secretay, Dept. of Primary & Secondary Education, P.Pradeep, Commissioner, DCTE, Prof.B.Thimme Gowda, Vice-Chairman, Prof.Gopalakrishna Joshi, ED, and Dr.Tandava Gowda, Administrator, State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) were present.

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