Bengaluru: Britain will help Karnataka in developing leadership in higher education centres and strengthen research exchange between the two partners, said an official on Thursday.
“The British Council has signed an agreement with the Karnataka government to collaborate on leadership development in higher education institutions,” said the official after visiting UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab met state Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa at the state secretariat in the city centre.
Raab is on a 4-day official visit to India since December 14 with a delegation to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Relationship between India and the UK spans several sectors, including trade and commerce, education, science and technology, defence and culture,” said Yediyurappa on the occasion.
Britain is a part of Karnataka’s Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) initiative for innovative partnerships with countries the world over to improve the southern state’s image as the world’s fourth largest technology hub.
As a GIA partner, 38 per cent of UK investment in India was made in Karnataka in 2017-18.
Lauding the setting up of tech hubs and tech clusters and go global programmes that take innovating start-ups to Britain from India, Yediyurappa said the state urban development department collaborated with the UK through the climate resilient cities for shared prosperity urban development programme.
The collaboration will deliver a transformational project on the design and delivery of multimodal transport hubs in Bengaluru, integrated transport authority and transport observatory in partnership with UK Catapults.
“The project demonstrates innovative ways to combat air pollution. The GIA is a platform to highlight the state’s leadership role and chart a way forward in the sector,” asserted Yediyurappa.
British Council India Director Barbara Wickham said the agreement with the state was a step to realise the mutual vision of a strong India-UK education relationship.
“With the agreement, we look forward to creating education and employment opportunities for aspiring students of Karnataka and supporting the state’s vision for stronger higher education systems,” said Wickham.
State Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan said India was poised for a big change in education with the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP), which is serving as a transformation opportunity.
“Collaboration with the UK’s higher education institutions through British Council is happening at an opportune time. Initiatives through this collaboration will benefit the stakeholders of higher education,” Narayan said.
British Council’s South India director Janaka Pushpanathan said employability and upskilling were focus areas for governments the world over.
“We are confident that the co-developed programmes as part of the agreement will help drive the desired results for Karnataka as well as the UK,” said Pushpanathan.
