�Speech By Bill Rammell MP Tues 13 December 2005-12-08
1) Introduction Many thanks Sir David.� And I�d like to express my sincere thanks to all of you for taking time to join us today.� I am speaking to you today in my role as champion minister for the Initiative. But our educational relationship with India cuts across so many issues that we are delighted to have present a number of interested members of parliament and representatives from all the government funding partners of the Initiative with us today � the Foreign Office, British Council, my own Department for Education and Skills and the Office of Science and Technology.� A number of academic and other institutions have also joined us to offer their own perspectives on the Initiative.� Welcome also to the Indian Deputy High Commissioner here in London, Mr Mattai.� But I am particularly pleased to welcome our guests from such a wide variety of businesses � British, Indian and multinational.� The very fact that you are here means that I hope that I am preaching to the converted. You recognise, as I do, the growing importance of India on the world stage and the need for a deepening of the UK�s economic and political ties with India. 2) Strategic context This Initiative will be a key plank in Britain�s strategic engagement with India over the next five years.� India is one of a handful of countries � China being another� - where Britain has identified a key need to develop our economic, cultural, educational and political relations, as we define our own place in the world of the 21st century.� The Education and Research initiative grew out of the agreement on developing a strategic relationship signed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries in 2004.� Collaboration in education and research plays a key part in this process.� After all, education is the life blood of every nation.� A nation�s very future, socially, economically and politically, depends on its ability to develop a highly skilled and educated population. But time is not on our side if we are really to breathe new life into our relationship, with the prospect of far-reaching benefits that educational collaboration offers to both our countries.��� Yes, it�s true that we have many advantages on our side - language, historic ties, shared values etc.� There is also the wealth of existing connections, and overlap in education between our two countries which will form a solid basis for future partnership working.� But sooner rather than later those advantages will count for nothing, if many of the existing links are allowed to wither under generational change. And if global competition, particularly from the US, France and Germany, is allowed to go unchallenged.� When I was in India last August, the one message that came across was �where have you been/when is the UK coming?� The Initiative is really built around the principle of partnership.� Britain - with government, academia and business acting together - offers a great value proposition to India, as it develops its knowledge base and the skills and capabilities of its people.�� At the same time, it is vital that Britain for its own future in a networked world that we get to grips with a knowledge economy already producing 2.5 million graduates each year in engineering, IT and life sciences. That�s the strategic context of the Initiative.� Our goal, over the longer term, is quite simply for the UK and India to become each other�s preferred partner in education, training and research.� The UK government has pledged �10 million to support the Initiative, with the aim of doubling that support with corporate and institutional partners.�� Our aim is, I admit, very ambitious.� And the level of funding is significant.� But we still will need to make tough choices in order to maximise impact and ensuring that this level of investment produces clear, tangible and measurable outcomes.� And that the investment made now lasts well beyond 2010.��� Since the Initiative was announced by the Prime Minister in Delhi in September, the project team in Britain and India has been working on shaping the design of the initiative, by developing partnerships and plans for activities, undertaking consultation with universities, training bodies, schools and business.� The initiative has been extremely well received and generated considerable interest. 3) Emerging thinking Higher Education Initiative funding will be weighted towards investment in Higher Education and Research links in science, technology and social sciences.� A consultation exercise was held with Universities UK at which more than 50 universities participated, showing the interest in our own university sector.� We are also planning to hold a similar consultation event with the Indian Higher Education sector in February or March of next year. Although plans are still being finalized, (and we would like your input today) we believe we can see the broad lines of the HE and research element of the Initiative emerging. Above all, there will be an emphasis on creating institution to institution links.� We don�t simply want to change the lives of individuals passing through higher education and research institutions in India and the UK.� We want to change those institutions themselves - developing their capabilities and establishing durable channels and vehicles for collaboration in the years ahead.� Through a bidding process for funds, we expect that UK centres of excellence will match up with Indian counterparts for research projects, and institutional exchanges of faculty students. There are already a number of models of the kind of research collaboration we are likely to fund.� For example, there is a British university already co-operating with one of the IITs and a corporate partner to develop joint research into cleaner coal technologies. The Initiative is likely to support such projects, providing it with additional resources to really embed the academic collaboration within the institutions.� I hope Sir David King will talk with you a little about some of the areas of collaboration in research that look most promising. We also believe there is strong value and interest in developing the joint delivery of programmes leading to degree awards, as have we done in Russia through our successful Bridge programme. �The joint delivery of programmes offers an excellent way to create deep links between institutions, delivers clear mutual benefits to both countries, and will be attractive to students in both the UK and India.� We are particularly excited about the opportunity to encourage many more UK students to study in India.� Professional and Technical Skills Our discussions with business have indicated that the Initiative has an important role to play in workforce development.� We are pleased to be interacting with both national training bodies in India and individual institutions.� We believe that the UK�s experience in strengthening connections between industry and training institutions through bodies such as our Sectors Skills Councils can benefit India as it develops much-needed centres of excellence in technical training.� Links and exchanges between selected Indian institutions and Centres of Vocational Excellence in the UK, will help to create a community of skilled workers equipped and attuned to working in industry environments bridging India and the UK. We believe that professional development reaches beyond formal education, and so expect a programme of internship exchanges to be supported by the Initiative, reaching from apprentices to skilled workers and junior managers. These links will help companies in Britain and India understand better each other�s country and working practices better, thereby adding value to both countries.�� An obvious example is connecting IT services providers in India with clients in the UK more effectively. Schools In our work with schools, we will aim to create a step change from current levels of co-operation, by reaching out into the vast state sector in India, really for the first time.� We would like to build scale, by working with clusters of schools through: exchanges of teachers, head teachers and school managers; co-operation on curriculum development; and joint projects for pupils in areas such as the Environment, Enterprise Education and Health.� We aim to create a body of shared practice linking UK and Indian schools, and a growing number of India�s young people who view the UK as a natural partner in their own personal and professional development.� In the UK, we hope to create a growing awareness of today�s India as they prepare for their own adult life. 4) Role of business I have given you a taster of what is being planned.� What then is the role of business in the Initiative?� The UK government views the participation of the private sector in this initiative as key.� But we need your help.� It is really only with the engagement of business through extra funding and support that we can have real impact and sustainability.� Business involvement will, we hope, operate at all levels.� One of our criteria for funding research projects will likely be the success they have had in attracting private sector support.� We hope that out of the institutional to institution links we establish in Higher Education, long term collaborations in specific areas of interest may develop, attracting corporate funding.� Our work in professional and technical training is designed to strengthen institutions, but also to develop a workforce that meets business needs of both the UK and India.� Our schools work provides a vehicle for companies to demonstrate a commitment to the communities in which they operate, again both in the UK and India.� Overall, our aim is to achieve real depth and breadth in the involvement of business. We are seeking a limited number of major corporate partners who can act as Corporate Champions for the Initiative as a whole, associated with the arc of our activities over the next five years.� However, we also seek to involve businesses who can participate in more limited areas of particular interest � for example supporting particular bids for research funds, or joining in training initiatives in their sector.�� A dedicated business relations team from the British Council is working on behalf of all the government partners to design and plan for business participation in the Initiative. 5) Conclusion I think I should leave it there, so we have time for comments from you.� Thank you all very much for coming, and I hope you share our excitement the work that has already been undertaken. And, more importantly, where we are heading with the Initiative.
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