Singapore, India explore possibility of widening engagement in education

Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday held fruitful discussions with his Singaporean counterpart Chan Chun Sing on strengthening the existing ties and exploring the possibility of widening the scope of bilateral engagements in education and skill development.

Pradhan, who was here on a three-day visit, also explored ways in which Singapore can partner with India to seamlessly integrate skilling and vocational education starting from the school level itself.

Pradhan had fruitful conversations on further strengthening the bilateral cooperation and deepening engagements in all areas of education and skill development with Chan.

Both the ministers agreed to broaden the contours of the existing partnership through institutional mechanisms, particularly towards building capacities of teachers and trainers, incorporating future skills into the education and skilling ecosystem as well as exploring engagement with special schools, and sports schools.

Pradhan expressed his gratitude to Chan and the Ministry of Education for their enriching participation in the previous three G20 Education Working Group Meetings.

Natural allies like India and Singapore remain committed to working together for mutual and global prosperity, he added.

Singapore delegation will be participating in the forthcoming G20 Education Ministers' Meeting in Pune, he said.

Pradhan also visited SkillsFuture Singapore, a key initiative of the Government of Singapore to make the country future-ready.

Skills Future Singapore (SSG) drives and coordinates the implementation of the national SkillsFuture movement, promotes a culture and holistic system of lifelong learning through the pursuit of skills mastery and strengthens the ecosystem of quality education and training in Singapore.

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said that SkillsFuture envisions making Singapore a nation of lifelong learners and a society that values skills mastery.

Skills Future initiative has allowed Singaporeans to maximise their potential and is a key driver of Singapore's next phase of development, he noted.

Pradhan highlighted that continuous education and lifelong learning are also the core of NEP (National Education Policy) in India.

Insights gained today will add value to our efforts of transforming India's skill ecosystem, creating a future-ready workforce and harnessing the full potential of our young demography to drive national progress," he said.

He also visited the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

During his visit to Singapore, Pradhan met various key ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Lawrence Wong; Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong; Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan; Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Building on the outcomes of the G20 Future of Work workshop in Bhubaneswar, they discussed ways in which India can leverage the expertise and knowledge of Singapore for addressing common challenges and transforming the Indian skills ecosystem.

Pradhan said that India and Singapore share strong historical, cultural and civilisational links.

Our friendship today is rooted in reciprocity, mutual trust and respect. Scaling up partnerships in knowledge, skills and frontier areas will add new dimensions to our long-standing friendship, he said.

Pradhan also visited various schools, and higher and skilling institutions including Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Spectra Secondary School, SkillsFuture, and Institute of Technical Education Singapore.

Pradhan had the opportunity to have a greater overview of the best practices and models being followed in Singapore for the training of the workforce. He interacted with teachers to know more about the teaching-learning environment, and pedagogy, among others.

The minister was happy to know that the school prioritises skills-based education and also focuses on encouraging learning at a pace suitable for every learner to prepare them for future workplaces.

The minister interacted with Indian students and received good insights on the roadmap to higher education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and taking learning beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Pradhan stressed that the 21st century is going to be India's century.

World-class global universities, like NTU and Indian universities must collaborate and deepen their engagements to create new models to inspire the 21st century, he added.

Minister met members of alumni of IIT and IIMs, Odia Association and Indian Diaspora in Singapore during his visit.