NEW DELHI: Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday met the Prime Minister of Singapore and discussed expanding the bilateral cooperation in school education, vocational education, and research.
After the meeting, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong posted on X, “Caught up with Indian Minister of Education @dpradhanbjp today. He has been a steadfast advocate for closer cooperation between our countries, especially in the key areas of education, skills and R&D.”
He also met Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and discussed cooperation in skills-based education and training to build competencies for future generations.
On a week-long two-nation trip to strengthen educational cooperation with Singapore and Australia, Pradhan also met his Singaporean counterpart Chan Chun Sing and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various areas of education.
The two leaders also shared ideas on academic and research collaboration through the twining of schools and universities.
In the meeting, the focus was on strengthening the partnership between the two nations through three key pillars - ‘Talent, Resource, and Market.'
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to Singapore, said, "Pleasure meeting my Singaporean counterpart, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing. Productive conversations on further deepening engagements in all areas of education."
"Minister Chan and I explored collaboration in curriculum development, pedagogy, and capacity building of our teachers through a partnership between the National Institution of Education Singapore and NCERT. We discussed the possibility of overseas internship opportunities for our students in Indian and Singaporean companies. We also shared ideas on academic and research collaboration through the twining of our schools and universities," he said.
He also invited the Singaporean minister to visit India to further mutual interests in education.
“India views Singapore as a trusted knowledge partner, particularly in advancing deep tech, startups, and innovation ecosystems,” he said.
The two ministers explored avenues for overseas internship programs, allowing Indian students to gain practical experience in Singaporean companies.
To further strengthen the cultural connections between students of both countries, the possibility of twining schools in India and Singapore was discussed. They also deliberated on fostering academic and research collaboration by twinning schools and universities in both countries.
Joint Research collaboration in areas of mutual interest, like deep tech, medicine, advanced materials, etc., was also discussed.
He highlighted opportunities for collaboration between Singapore's National Institute of Education and NCERT in curriculum development, pedagogy, and teacher capacity-building.
Pradhan also met with Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan, to discuss deepening the India-Singapore Knowledge Partnership.
Both leaders emphasised the importance of working closely to elevate bilateral cooperation in education and expand collaborative efforts to achieve shared objectives.
On X, Balakrishnan posted, “Singapore supports India’s development through skills development and education cooperation. Discussed with Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan how we could strengthen education ties and collaborate in research and innovation which will benefit both economies.”
Pradhan also visited the National University of Singapore (NUS) and met with Prof. Tan Eng Chye, university president. They discussed leveraging complementary strengths to build knowledge bridges, strengthen academic and research collaborations, and deepen engagements between NUS and top Indian higher education institutions across all academic fronts.
Pradhan emphasised that NUS and Indian HEIs can collaborate to create value in deep start-ups, healthcare, advanced materials, digitalisation, and sustainability.
Posting about his visit to NUS, Pradhan said that NUS and Indian HEIs could collaborate and create value in deep start-ups, medical, health, advanced materials, digitalisation, and sustainability.
"President of @NUSingapore, Professor Tan Eng Chye and I had substantive conversations on leveraging complementary strengths for building knowledge bridges, strengthening academic and research collaborations and deepening engagements between NUS and top Indian HEIs on all academic fronts," he posted on X.
He added that enhancing access to quality higher education for India's youth and internationalising India's education is a key focus area of NEP 2020.
Pradhan also took a tour of Hwa Chong International School to understand and learn about best practices towards building 'schools of the future.'
"Appreciate the school's emphasis on deploying cutting-edge technologies like AI to enhance student experiences, strengthen learning outcomes and draw out strengths, talents and creative pursuits of each student."
"I found several similarities in our NEP and the curriculum, pedagogy, and student development approaches followed here at HCIS. We remain committed to transforming our students into responsible global citizens by providing them with the best education." he posted on X.
He later met IIT and IIM alumni, and said, “A wonderful evening with alumni of IITs and IIMs based in Singapore.”
“Our IITs and IIMs are examples of India’s knowledge prowess. I am confident that this erudite gathering here will be a catalyst in ensuring that India leads the fourth industrial revolution.”