The University of Melbourne has launched its five-year India strategy to strengthen its ties with India across a range of fields including health, education, law, cultural arts and postgraduate teaching and learning.
Ranked as Australia’s number one, University of Melbourne’s ‘Engaging with India 2020-2024’ looks to reinforces long-term commitments to strong Indian partnerships, joint research and collaborative teaching and learning models that address global key challenges and deliver mutual benefit for Australian and Indian societies.
The strategy also aims to lift the capacity, quality and impact of research, which supports India’s stated goals in its draft New Education Policy.
The University hopes the strategy will strengthen collaborations of mutual interest; expand the quality and impact of research; develop graduates with the capabilities and experience to engage meaningfully with Indian counterparts across academia, government, business and civil society; and create opportunities for Indian partners to share their expertise in Australia.
The University announced the strategy will focus on five pillars: (1) Healthy; (2) Sustainable; (3) Innovative and technologically sophisticated; (4) Equal, inclusive and well-governed; and (5) Share an appreciation and understanding of one another’s place in the world.
These five pillars will be the focus for funding and high-level engagement between the two countries and will build upon existing relationships and projects, as well as new initiatives in arts, social sciences, and humanities.
Some of the key initiatives the University is aiming to work with its Indian partners are:
- Health: Co-develop an allied health program with Indian partner institutions and expand opportunities in digital health research for chronic disease management.
- Water: Develop collaborations in integrated water management, specifically with university researchers and the Indian Ministry of Power.
- Law: Establish the Indian Equality Law Program and explore pathways to provide educational mobility opportunities.
- Arts: Establish a portfolio of teaching and learning opportunities about India and leverage the University’s expertise in visual and performing arts, music and literature.
- Teaching and learning: Expand the breadth and depth of the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Academy and expand blended teaching and learning programs.
Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell said the new Engaging with India 2020-2024 strategy confirms the University’s intention to expand and deepen its relationship and activities in India.
“The University is committed to building on its strong foundation of partnerships in India,” Professor Maskell said.
“We will work to strengthen our long-standing ties and accelerate collaborations with our Indian partners to address shared social and scientific global challenges. Issues such as climate change, water management, health and food security are just some of the shared global challenges facing both countries. The new strategy will enable academics across varied fields of study to continue to work in partnership with our colleagues in India, curating significant research relationships, developing grants, co-authoring publications and executing significant research projects.”
The University’s engagement with India will concentrate on Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka, as well as regional areas - Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Australia's High Commissioner to India, Her Excellency Ms Harinder Sidhu welcomed the University of Melbourne’s new strategy and acknowledged the importance of Australia’s higher education sector in the Australia-India relationship.
“There is currently a high tempo of engagement between Australia and India. Following the release of the India Economic Strategy in 2018, I’m pleased to see another focused strategy to support our bilateral engagement,” Ms Sidhu said.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that in 2017–18, international education was worth $32.4 billion to the Australian economy, up from $28.1 billion in 2016–17.
Of 398,563 overseas student enrolments in higher education in 2018, 38.3 per cent (152,591) were from China, and 18.0 per cent (71,857) were from India, with the remaining top ten nationalities being Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
For Australian universities, overseas student fees have been the largest source of revenue growth in recent years.
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