Over the next five years, the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) aims to create a step change in educational relations between India and the UK.

The initiative was announced by the Prime Minister during his visit to India in September 2005, and has a commitment of £10 million from the UK Government, which will be augmented by contributions from the business sector and education institutions.

While the main focus of the initiative is on higher education and research, there will also be activity in the schools and professional and technical skills sectors. All three strands will contribute to the overarching aims of the initiative and will be supported by policy dialolgue and the involvement  and support of the business sector.

Higher Education and Research

The two principal activitieswill be promoting research partnerships between centres of excellence in science and social sciences, and developing joint and dual course delivery. The initiative has an emphasis on creating institution to institution links - establishing durable channels and vehicles for collaboration in the years ahead.

By 2011, the following minimum targets will have been met:

• 70 new collaborative research projects linking centres of excellence
• 40 new UK award programmes delivered collboratively in India with 2,000 Indian students enrolled
• 300 additional Indian research students, postdoctoral researchers and staff will have worked in the UK
• 200 UK researchers worked in India and 200 UK undergraduate students supported for studies in India
• 2,000 Indian research students completed research degrees in the UK through collaborative delivery

Schools

The schools strand will bring together clusters of schoolsin the UK and India for joint curriculum projects and professional development. School leadership, management and ICT in the classroom have been identified as priorities. By working through clusters and ntworks, the inititative will be the first UK collaboration to reach significantly into the state sector in Indian schools, as well as building on and expanding existing collaborations with private sector schools. We aim to reach half a million students through networks of teachers, head teachers, national educational bodies and government.

By 2011, the following minimum targets will have been met:

• 300 Indian schools linked with a similar number in the UK and 300 teacher/head teacher exchanges
• 50 international projects by school clusters providing a huge educational resource for both countries
• 250,000 students directly participated in the project and another 250,000 indirectly benefitted

Professional and Technical Skills

A broad business and skills agenda has been developing to supplement the research focus of the initiative, encouraging  the development of joint delivery higher education programmes in key areas of business interest including Engineering, Business Studies and IT.

There will be a particular focus on links in the Financial Services and Creative industries and support for a two-way graduate exchange programmewith workplace attachments. There will also be opportunities for participation of businesses in school activities of interest (e.g. Enterprise Education Environment). Programme details and targets to be met will be demand-driven and developed with corporate partners as activity in this area will meet the needs of industry in both countries.

For more information on UKIERI contact Victoria Grant, Assistant Manager UK India Education and Research Initiative, ETG.