New Zealand announces new education initiatives

Mumbai: New Zealand has announced a string of new initiatives to further deepen its education relationship with India.

A joint call for research proposals for Indian and New Zealand academics has been made to increase research collaboration across a range of areas including food security and agriculture, community development and innovation, health, environment and sustainability, India-New Zealand trade relations, information security and urban planning and development.

Announced on the occasion of Waitangi Day, New Zealand’s national day, by Education New Zealand’s (ENZ) Regional Director South Asia Ziena Jalil, the programme acknowledges the multi-faceted education relationship between India and New Zealand.

In 2012, there were 11,349 Indian students studying in New Zealand, an increase of 194 per cent from 2007. Hindi is the fourth most widely spoken language in New Zealand.

“This call for proposals has been jointly facilitated by ENZ and India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) and would form part of the activity we undertake in India as part of the India New Zealand Education Council (INZEC) initiative which was announced by both our Prime Ministers,” Jalil said.

Stating that all New Zealand universities feature in the top 500 globally, she added that the call for research proposals is a deliberate attempt at sharing experiences with Indian partners.