The Joint Leadership of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Australia’s Education Minister Jason Clare, along with Skill and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor.
The inaugural meeting of the Australia India Education and Skill Council (AIESC) is set to take place at IIT Gandhinagar on Monday, with the aim of establishing a framework for enhancing cooperation and synergy between the fields of education and skill development, as per official sources.
The meeting will be jointly chaired by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Australia’s Minister for Education Jason Clare, and the country’s Skill and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor. Formerly known as the Australian India Education Council (AIEC), the AIESC was founded in 2011 as a bi-national entity to provide strategic direction for educational, training, and research partnerships between the two nations. The forum’s scope has since evolved to align with the respective national priorities, emphasizing internationalization, two-way mobility, and collaboration in both education and the skill ecosystem.
For the first time, this event brings together education and skill development under a single institutional umbrella, and the visit is anticipated to stimulate collaboration, engagement, and alignment in areas of mutual interest within the education and skill sectors, as stated by the Ministry of Education. The meeting will serve as a platform for academic and skill experts to discuss a wide range of agreed-upon priorities, ultimately shaping the future of education and skill development in both countries.
The discussions during the meeting will revolve around three main themes: shaping future workforces, fortifying institutional partnerships in education, and enhancing research impact through internationalization, according to the statement.
The ministers will also make visits to key institutions to identify areas of potential collaboration. This includes visits to the Centre for Creative Learning at IIT Gandhinagar, known for fostering scientific curiosity and creativity among students and educators. The two-day program also features visits by Pradhan and Clare to Gift City and site visits to Deakin University and the University of Wollongong campuses.
