India, US discuss joint education council plan
03 Jun 2010
Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton today discussed the formation of an India-US council to boost bilateral cooperation in the field of education between the two nations.
"This council will give further impetus to the sustained efforts being made by both sides to increase educational cooperation," Sibal said.
He said the aim is to increase enrolment in higher education to 30 per cent by the year 2020, which means almost tripling the level from the present 14 million to about 40 million.
This effort would require setting up of at least 600-700 new universities and 35,000 new colleges.
The two leaders discussed the use of ICT in enhancing the teaching-learning capabilities, research collaboration, biosciences, nano-sciences and other spheres. They also discussed the interest shown by US universities in establishing institutions in India.
Sibal expressed interest in US-India partnership for the setting up innovation universities, 14 of which are being set up in the country.