The session on Africa-India Cooperation on Skill Development
& Education–Focus on People-to-people Exchange was organised in Gandhinagar
today was part of the 52nd Annual meeting of the African Development Bank. This
was organised by the Ministry of Finance in association with CII and was
supported by EXIM Bank. Africa and India share commonality with respect to its
demographic composition, as youth comprises of over 60% of the population. In
this scenario, the provision of access to quality education, skill development
and capacity building is therefore of utmost importance.
While outlining the similarities between India and Africa, Mr
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India
said that India and Africa represent the workforce of the future. He said that
while their demographic makeup is an advantage, only skilling and employment
can convert the same into dividend. Mr Javadekar announced that in the next
five years scholarships granted to African students will be doubled to 50,000.
He also spoke of the GoIs intention to accord preferential enrollment to
African students into premier Indian institutions.
Speaking of the success of Indian MOOS, Mr Javadekar said that it
has unleashed an era of knowledge without barriers. As a result, Indian
societies are experiencing the revolution of Any Time Learning (ATL) similar to
the ATM. The Minister also gave the example of how the National Digital
Library, an online repository of 6.5 million books is strengthening the cause
of seamless flow of knowledge. He also spoke of various ways in which India
could enhance cooperation with African nations for strengthening the cause of
education and skilling.
Mr Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Hon'ble Minister of State for Finance,
Government of India, said that competency based education coupled with
vocational training should be introduced in schools for a skilled workforce. He
expressed the government's firm commitment to extend support to Africa in terms
of sharing best practices in the areas of education and training.
Mr Ninad Karpe, Chairman, CII Western Region and Director, Aptech
Limited said that the strong focus of the Indo-African relationship, which is
based on mutual equality, friendship, benefit and solidarity should be laid on
human resource development. He said that the introduction of ICTE will become a
key enabler of education.
25 May 2017
Gandhinagar