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Ruth Butaumocho in NEW DELHI, India

India has called on African governments to strengthen their collaborations and partnerships in higher education so that they benefit from the country’s strong industry placement focus.Speaking at the welcoming dinner for foreign delegates attending the 12th Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry higher education summit here on Wednesday, the secretary in India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development, Mr Vinay Sheel Oberoi, said Africa, particularly the southern region, could benefit from India’s industry placement-driven education system which promotes employment creation through diverse strategies.

With 43 000 students from Africa studying in India, 2 000 of them from Zimbabwe, Mr Oberoi said the increase in the number of students coming from Africa was an affirmation of India’s high quality education that encourages critical thinking and innovation.

“India presently offers an encouraging ecosystem of learning with strong industry placement focus. Increasingly, a strong startup ecosystem is under creation in addition to the strong industry placement focus, which is making India a preferred destination by international students particularly those coming from Africa,” he said.

Mr Oberoi added that with the advent of technologies, India was now focusing on education startups, using technology as a predominant tool to augment the education services, a development that would in the long run address high unemployment levels in Africa and the world in general.

“The globe is currently reeling from the effects of unemployment with lots of graduates roaming the streets. As India, we are becoming robust in our approach to higher education, and a new set of startups are taking a fresh look at how educational outcomes such as learning levels, employability, access, equity, capital efficiency can be achieved holistically.”

With an increase focus in strengthening ties between India and African countries, Mr Oberoi said his Government will continuously review existing scholarships packages for different African countries, to ensure continuity, while strengthening government to government relations.

Zimbabwe is among African countries that are benefiting from Indian scholarships with several students studying for different postgraduate programmes.

India has the largest higher education system in the world in terms of the number of institutions, and the second largest in terms of higher education students enrolled at its universities and col- leges.

More than 20 million higher education students are studying in India’s 677 universities and nearly 40 000 colleges.