Indian Educational Degrees to be recognized in Australia
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced earlier this month (March 2023) that Australia and the Indian government have finalized Australia-India Education Qualification Recognition Mechanism. During his visit to India, Mr. Albanese spoke at a program, where he announced that Australia’s Deakin University would be setting up an international branch campus at GIFT city in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.
Furthermore, he elaborated that the new mechanism ensures that Indian students studying or have studied in Australia will have their hard-earned degree recognized when they return home. Similarly, Indian students interested in pursuing a career in Australia will not face any discrimination as their qualifications will be recognized in Australia.
Under this scheme, the degrees completed in India will be recognized in Australia and vice versa. However, professional qualifications such as law, engineering, and medicine do not fall under this agreement.
Mr. Albanese described the agreement as the most comprehensive and ambitious arrangement that India collaborated with any other country. Consequently, it will make way for commercial opportunities for Australian education providers to offer innovative and more accessible education to Indian students. Besides, it also provides a strong platform for educational institutes to establish new ways of forming strategic partnerships.
Moreover, the mechanism was agreed upon when Australian education Minister Jason Clare visited Delhi earlier this month. He pointed out that India has other agreements with countries like the US; however, the agreement with Australia is much broader than with the former. The main reason is that it includes online courses also, apart from courses that Australian universities can run in India or at a standalone campus like the one that the University of Wollongong is setting up.
Maitri Scholarships
Mr. Albanese announced a new scholarship titled ‘’Maitri’’(Friendship) scholarship for Indian students to study in Australia for upto four years. Moreover, the scholarships are part of the wider Maitri program that aims to bolster cultural, educational, and community ties between Australia and India.
The Australian government stated in the previous month that it had launched three Maitri scholarships to boost Australian-Indian cooperation, creativity, understanding, and exchange. Furthermore, they added that the $11.2 million Maitri Scholarships Program would attract and support meritorious students to study at Australian Universities. Also, it will serve to showcase Australia’s globally renowned academic and research institutions, specifically in science, technology, mathematics, health, and engineering.
Albanese said that it was a fact of great honor that Deakin University set up its international campus in India. On the other hand, the University of Melbourne in Australia announced collaborations with three educational institutions — the University of Madras, Savitribai Phule University in Pune, and the Gandhi Institute of Technology & Management in Hyderabad. The partnership offers a new undergraduate dual degree in science to the students of these universities.
