Manish Sisodia meets UK skills minister to explore partnership opportunities in higher education

New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday met UK's Minister for Skills Alex Burghart to explore new partnership opportunities to foster innovation and give a boost to Delhi's higher education system. The high-level meeting took place in London.

"Future partnerships with UK higher education institutions will help us promote innovation and create 21st century jobs in Delhi. "Insightful meeting with the Minister for Skills and faculties from universities gave us an opportunity to understand their working and curricula being implemented here. Got some really innovative ideas which can be implemented in our state universities," said Sisodia, who is also Delhi's education minister.

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Later, he visited University of East London (UEL) and University College London (UCL). "The Delhi government is looking forward to collaborating with universities in the UK to work together on different lines such as teacher education, sports, skill development and research. Institutes like UEL and UCL are counted among the top higher education institutes in the world and are working diligently towards the holistic development of students," he added.

The Delhi government has held discussions with UCL in the past too, to explore different avenues such as curriculum design, research collaboration, exchange programmes, creative assessments, etc. with respect to Delhi Teachers University.

"A collaboration between Delhi Sports University and UEL is also on the cards with respect to designing sports university curriculum and capacity building. UEL is known for playing an integral role in the 2012 Olympics which were held in London and it is the top university for sports education in London. "

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The university has a dedicated School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, which provides hands-on, experience-led teaching across multiple disciplines in sports. We are looking forward to collaborating with UEL to work on capacity building, innovative curriculum design, research for Delhi Sports University," Sisodia said.

The deputy chief minister also visited Reay Primary School in London which caters to students in the 3-11 age group. "Primary schooling builds the basic framework of a child's future. Reay Primary has been working dedicatedly on improving primary education in the UK.

Their vision to enable children to become lifelong learners aligns with the vision of our government. "In Delhi too we are working towards improving the primary education system and would like to adopt some of the practices of Reay Primary in our schools for the benefit of our children," Sisodia said.