Australia to deepen India education ties with more campuses, training hubs

Australia is set to broaden its education and skilling engagement in India, with plans for additional overseas branch campuses and specialised vocational training initiatives. The announcement came at the 10th edition of The Edu Meet 2026, organised by ASSOCHAM in Kolkata, which focused on the future of education and skilling aligned with the Viksit Bharat@2047 vision.

Bernard Lynch, the Australian Consul General in Kolkata, highlighted education as a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship. He noted that India remains the second-largest source of international students for Australia, but the partnership extends well beyond student mobility, covering university collaborations, research, and vocational training.

Lynch confirmed that Australia currently operates nine overseas branch campuses in India, with this number expected to grow. New initiatives, including a Centre of Excellence in Mining Equipment and solar training programmes, are also in the pipeline to enrich India's education and skills landscape.

Industry and academic leaders at the summit stressed the need to move away from rote learning and theory-heavy curricula. Manoj Joshi, Chairman of the ASSOCHAM Higher Education Council - East, argued that degrees must reflect applied competence rather than mere attendance. He urged industry to co-develop credit-bearing practical modules with universities.

Prof. Satyajit Chakrabarti of the Institute of Engineering & Management pointed to the commoditisation of knowledge, accelerated by AI, and called for a focus on creative problem-solving and indigenous technology development. Other speakers emphasised building resilience in foundational learning and the importance of short-term, industry-linked programmes to address rapid technological obsolescence.

The event also saw the release of the ASSOCHAM-PwC Knowledge Report titled "Unlocking the next leap in education" and the presentation of the ASSOCHAM Excellence Awards.