Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 11 (ANI): The Government of Karnataka and the British Council, the United Kingdom’s International Organisation for Educational Opportunities and Cultural Exchange, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday, at Vikasa Soudha, Karnataka.

The MoU was intended to renew the partnership in the sectors of Education, English, and Arts for imparting global skills and creating global opportunities for the state’s youth, read the release by the office of Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Higher Education.

The MoU has been signed by G. Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Higher Education, GoK and Janaka Pushpanathan, Director, British Council South India for 3 years in the presence of Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister of Higher Education, and B.C. Nagesh, Minister of PrimarySecondary Education.

“The extended 3 years MoU would enable to develop the skills of faculty and students from higher education institutions in the State and to expand collaborations through British Council initiatives such as the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) and the Going Global Partnerships,” said Ashwatha Narayan during the MoU signing.

Narayan also proclaimed that the MoU will pave the way for developing sustainable partnerships in the research and innovation areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Ed-Tech, Biosciences, and Cybersecurity between the Centers of Excellence (CoE) in the UK as well as Karnataka.

“The MoU allows to build initiatives to improve English and employability skills of young people attending Industrial Training Institutions (ITIs), engineering and management courses. This facilitates student mobility between universities in India and the UK and enhances partnership opportunities between institutes in Karnataka and the UK for internationalization in the curricula,” said Narayan while explaining the benefits of signed MoU.

Janaka Pushpanathan, Director South India, British Council said that the MoU would allow developing further initiatives to improve English teaching and enhance employability skills in schools and training institutes, building capacity in higher educationresearch, and promote co-operation on inspiring young people in the state through arts and culture.

On the day of MoU signing, Steve Smith, International Education Champion, Government of UK, invited ministers to participate in the Education World Forum (EWF) scheduled in May 2022 in London, UK for exploring further partnerships for Karnataka. (ANI)