India, France ink pact for mutual recognition of educational qualifications

India and France today signed an MoU for mutual recognition of educational qualifications.
Frederique Vidal, France's Minister of Higher Education and Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the MoU at the 'Knowledge Summit' held coinciding with the first state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.
The Knowledge Summit brought together education and research industry experts.
At the Summit, agreements were signed between universities and research institutions of both countries to boost student mobility between the two countries.
"It is historicfor the first time; a government-to- government MoU has been signed to mutually recognise academic qualifications. It will help the student community. There used to be only bilateral arrangements between institutions to institutions, Javadekar said while speaking at the Knowledge Summit at the Pravasi Bharatiya Bhawan.

According to an official statement, "The agreement between the two governments will facilitate mutual recognition of academic qualifications. It will mark a breakthrough providing students across-the-board recognition to degrees acquired in India".

"It will drive mobility of students by mutually recognising academic qualifications at various levels: starting with secondary school, Masters to Doctorate degrees, and also recognises periods of study in the partner country," it said.
The first high-level India-France Knowledge Summit was jointly organised by French Institute in India, along with Ministry of Higher Education, Research & Innovation (MESRI), France and Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

Pointing out that more than 5,000 Indian students are studying in France and about 1,500 French students in India, the minister said the HRD Ministry would launch a 'Study in India' initiative to attract more and more students from other countries to India.
Apart from the MoU on Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications between India and France, 15 MoUs between various institutions of India and France in the areas of higher education, research, innovation, faculty exchange, scientific cooperation were exchanged.