'From India, we have much to learn'

Ever since US Education Secretary Arne Duncan and India's Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal met last fall in Washington, DC, they have developed a near-perfect rapport, which was manifest during their joint appearance at the 35th anniversary of the US-India Business Council, with Duncan saying that "we each our leading efforts to ensure that every American and Indian child is given the opportunity to be successful."

Lauding his counterpart for "his leadership, his courage," Duncan said Sibal's sustained endeavor to ensure that India's children get an education would be his legacy "for generations to come."

"The scale and scope of your goals are difficult to comprehend, but easy to admire," he said, and assured Sibal that he stands ready to help in any way he can although the US Department of Education doesn't necessarily have the authority to help education efforts in other countries.

However, he said, "While the Department of Education has limited authority to do work overseas, I am happy to say that one of our most active relationships is with India."

Duncan recalled that last fall, the DOE had made a $300,000 grant to the International Institute of Education to create an International Academic Partnership with India as part of a two-year project "to help American colleges establish ties with universities in India and China."

He also pointed out that "in October, the Department hosted 50 university leaders from the US and India to discuss collaborations in higher education, and the American universities included major research universities, land grant universities, institutes of technology, community colleges, women's colleges."

Duncan said, "The diversity of American institutions represented - reflects the broad interest in collaboration in higher education," and noted that this had been followed up in March by the visit of the Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter, who led a delegation of American university presidents to Bangalore, Pune, and New Delhi "to lend support to American institutions and their efforts to build relationships with Indian institutions."

The Secretary said that this was all the outcome of his meeting last fall with Sibal when "we discussed opportunities for collaborations and creating a US-India Educational Council that would be modeled on the USIBC. Today, this idea is a reality thanks to the leadership in this room."

Duncan lauded the USIBC, and in particular outgoing chairman Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.

He said that "education is a powerful tool to link the American and Indian people," and argued that "efforts such as this one are vitally important. In an interconnected, competitive global economy, the only way to secure our common future is through education."

Duncan, an alumnus of Harvard, but also a product of the Chicago public schools who later went on to become the CEO of that city's public schools during which time he came into contact and developed a strong friendship with then state senator Barack Obama, said, "It is the one true path out of poverty - the greater equalizer that overcomes differences in background, culture, and privilege."

"In the 21st century, a quality education system is the centerpiece of a country's economic development. Global education cooperation can unite us across borders and continents, classrooms and chat-rooms, departments and ministries."

In this regard, Duncan declared, "From India, we have much to learn; with India we have much to share."

"Through education and exchange, we can become better collaborators and competitors in a global economy," but acknowledged that both "India and the United States have common challenges and goals - to expand access to education, including higher education, and to ensure a quality education for all of the students we serve."

Sibal, said, education is "all about the human desire for empowerment. It's not about a partnership between one country and another, it's not about getting one higher education institution over to another."

He said that in the first session of parliament, the UPA government in its second incarnation had fulfilled a commitment "to pass the Right to Education Act. And, we did it in the first session of parliament. Never before had it happened in 62 years."

"Sixty-two years, we tried to do that - it was part of our constitution, but they were never able to accomplish that. But now, it's a fundamental right,' and said "no amount of obstructions by politicians or states can stop that happening. Children can go to court, communities can go to court," if denied this fundamental right.

Sibal asserted that "this is a great breakthrough. What the objective? The objective is that any nation that wants to move forward, must ensure that the critical mass of people go into the university system."

"Unless we reach a critical mass of people going into the universities of not less that 30 to 40 per cent,' he reiterated, "we will not be able to create the intangible asset which are the real wealth of the nation."

Sibal said this was the aim "and that's the reason why we passed the Right to Education Act.

The minister, later in the day also met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Earlier he had met with presidents and deans of many universities including Charles Steger, president of Virginia Tech, who expressed a desire to set up a facility near Chennai for research in bio-informatics, nanosciences, and transportation studies.

Also calling on Sibal, were Spiros Demolitsas, vice president and CEO of Georgetown University, along with several members of the university faculty, and Louis Goodman, dean of the School of International Service at American University, which has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Manipal University to develop a program in national security studies.

The School on International Studies has also expressed a keen interest in the establishment of an Indian Institute at American University, which will be dedicated to Indian studies, and their proposal envisages an inter-disciplinary approach focusing on such areas as foreign policy and national security, science and technology policy, and sustainable development.

Sibal also participated in a roundtable at the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading think tank in DC, which was chaired by South Asia specialist Evan Feigenbaum, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs in the Bush Administration, and gave an update of the educational reforms in India, while arguing that cooperation and collaboration in education was an integral part of the US-India strategic partnership.

Image: Kapil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development addressing USIBC Members. | Photograph: Paresh Gandhi