Professor Rick Trainor, President of Universities UK and Principal of King’s College London, is leading a delegation of UK University Vice Chancellors to India to discuss collaborations on the massive expansion in India’s Higher Education Institutions under the XI Five Year Plan.
The visit follows the Bilateral Summit meeting between the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January 2008. At the Summit, the two Prime Ministers agreed to actively promote links between British Universities and the premier educational institutions in India including collaborating on the establishment of one new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), one new Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), and one new Central University.
Speaking about the visit Professor Trainor said, “We have been enormously impressed by the scale of the planned expansion in India’s higher educational system and the strength of the commitment by all those concerned to make it happen. We are very pleased that the British university system is going to play an active role in supporting this expansion, drawing on the world class expertise of British universities, our strong ties with India and the existing institutional links between British and Indian Higher Education Institutions.
“We have identified a number of important areas where the UK and India will be able to collaborate, bringing significant mutual benefits to both Higher Education systems. We have also discussed the approach to selecting the specific premier institutions that UK universities will work with under the initiative and look forward to firming these up in the near future.”
Joining Professor Trainor in the UK delegation are Professor Paul Wellings, Vice Chancellor of Lancaster University, Professor Caroline Gipps, Vice Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton, and Professor Andrew Hamnett, Vice Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde.
During their two-day visit, the delegation met Minister of State for Higher Education, Smt. D Purandeswari and senior officials at the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the University Grants Commission and the Prime Minister’s Office. They also met Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission.
The delegation held consultations with Vice Chancellors and senior officials from a number of India’s leading universities including Kurukshetra University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi University, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NEUPA).
They also visited the campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
