Why US is keen to forge 'education ties' with India

Ron Somers, president of the US-India Business Council, said that the reason the USIBC is so keen to deepen linkages with India across the education sector is 'because our knowledge partnership with India depends on it.'

Speaking at a reception hosted by the USIBC, Somers said, "More and more, as technology shrinks the planet and as the world becomes ever-more competitive, knowledge partners like the US and India will become central to assuring that Americans as well as Indian companies remain globally competitive."

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The meeting that Somers addressed was attended by over 300 educators, government officials and leading businesspeople, who were in Washington to participate in the US-India Education Summit.

"This competitive edge will only be possible to achieve and sustain if the talent and human capacity are properly recognised by our societies and equipped to take on the mammoth challenges of tomorrow", Somers said.

"As India transitions to becoming a world-class manufacturing hub and expands its Information Technology Enabled Service capabilities, India's youthful demographic --more than 600 million Indians under the age of 25 filled with hope for a brighter future -- will be the group that makes the difference in making way for a better world."

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"Surely, by twinning our education systems at every level, by sharing best practices, by assuring highest quality, by collaborating deeply -- at the K-12 level, in vocational/technical education, and in higher education, together -- as partners -- the US and India can produce the global workforce of tomorrow," he said.

"And, in doing so, make this world in our lifetimes a better place, with the US-India partnership shaping the destiny of the 21st century."

Somers acknowledged that "at the K-12 level, there are challenges facing both our educational systems. More than 220 million students in India are now between the ages of 6-18."

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Thus, he predicted that "an entire generation will shape the future of this 21st century –and the role in the global arena of the US-India partnership."

Somers said, "If properly attended to, guided by the truth and promise intended by our democracies, the partnership will become more natural, more deep, and peace and prosperity for all will be the outcome."

He spoke of the constant refrain of India's $1 trillion opportunity in infrastructure development slated to take place over the next 10 years.

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"The question that surfaces is who will tie all that steel rebar and pour all that concrete and maintain all the jet engines flying in our Open Skies and develop the health cures and discoveries of tomorrow unless today's youth in the United States and India are provided world-class access to vocational technical education."

Somers declared, "Surely, this is a major opportunity for US and Indian companies."

He said that "in the higher education space, US universities and colleges are waiting in queue to deepen their relations with Indian educational institutions."

Thus, Somers said, "As we await passage of India's pending legislation opening the Higher Education sector for collaboration, much opportunity already exists for executive education programs, tie-ups, 3 plus 1 or 2 plus 2 hybrid degrees, and all sorts of robust educational affiliations."