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Updated on: Sunday, November 14, 2010

On his trip to India during the Commonwealth Games, Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond announced three Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between the prime higher education institutes of the two countries. The new MoUs, which build upon an overarching MoU signed in 2009 between the Association of Indian Universities and Universities Scotland, are between the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad (IIITA) and the University of Abertay Dundee (UAD) for joint research programmes and academic exchange; India’s National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to develop professional and academic accreditations and qualifications; the University of Delhi and University of Edinburgh for academic exchange and collaboration; and Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science & Research, New Delhi, as part of an overall programme to provide short courses in diabetic foot care to 300 medics over six months.

“The MoU seeks to promote cooperation between the two universities through joint research programmes and the exchange of research, teaching and other staff, including undergraduate and postgraduate students. The collaboration is expected to focus on creative digital media, arts and games; visualisation; economics; business and management; biotechnology; and bio-informatics, among other areas,” said MD Tiwari, Director, IITA.

NABET, which operates accreditation services for schools, vocational training institutes and skill assessment bodies, will work with the SQA to develop skill standards and industry-specific qualifications, personnel credentials, accreditation qualifications systems for schools and training course providers.

The University of Delhi under the MoU with the University of Edinburgh will explore student and faculty exchanges, joint summer projects for postgraduate and doctoral students, especially designed study programmes, joint research projects and other scholarly and instructional cooperation between academic units across a range of disciplines. The University of Edinburgh is also opening an office in Mumbai to further develop relations with strategic partners.

The third partnership will see GCU’s Department of Podiatric Surgery & Medicine working with its Indian partners to launch short course programmes for medical professionals in the area of diabetic foot-care, a specialist area for GCU and a wide-spread medical issue in India. This programme will be delivered to doctors and healthcare professionals in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai over the next six months.

Besides the alliances, Salmond spoke about the number of Indian students at Scottish universities. “With 4,000 Indian students studying in Scotland currently, India is Scotland’s second largest international market for further and higher studies. Under the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme, around 3000 Indian graduates remained in Scotland post-study. Fifty Indian postgraduates are studying under our Saltire Scholarships,” he said, adding, “Going ahead, more than increasing the number of Indian students, we would like to build linkages between our education systems and help each other grow. We are even looking at setting up virtual campuses.”

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