Skilling India, Resourcing Australia
By Lisa Singh, CEO of the Australia India Institute
This address was delivered at the Australia India Chamber of Commerce (AICC) National Conference in Perth, Western Australia on June 27, 2023.
In 2018, the India Economic Strategy (IES), led by Mr Peter Varghese AO, set out a plan to transform Australia and India’s economic partnership to 2035. In that plan, he highlighted education as the flagship sector of the relationship. As he stated very clearly – “There is no sector with greater promise for Australia in India than education.”
For India, education is crucial if it is to maximise the potential of its demographic dividend. India is seeking international partners to help it meet its education demand. And equally, Australia’s growth and prosperity relies on our ability to attract the ‘best and brightest’. In this context, the IES sets out a framework for mutually ‘Skilling India and Resourcing Australia.”
The IES identified opportunities to deepen bilateral education ties, including:
- Improving India’s perception of Australian higher education institutions.
- Increasing research collaboration and mobility between Australian and Indian experts.
- And in collaborating to open pathways for Australia’s Vocational Education and Training sector into India.
With Australia’s VET system being held in high regard and recognition of the need to invest in upskilling within India’s public and private sectors, the door for Australian providers to collaborate with Indian Governments, training providers, and corporations to build a global workforce remains open.
Of course, the IES could not predict the challenges of the last three years. The COVID-19 pandemic redefined the international education landscape as borders closed and Indian enrolments in Australian Higher Education Institutions dropped.
Furthermore, COVID-19 revealed the extent of Australia’s skills shortage and the role of international education and migration in Australia’s health, STEM, and IT sectors. With migration reform and talent mobility firmly on the Australian Government agendas, conversations on how skilled migration from India can viably ensure Australia’s skill gap fulfilment is crucial. Whilst the pandemic may have kept us apart physically, our two countries have in fact grown closer together.
This sets the scene for our discussions here today which will focus on.
- Leveraging India’s demographic dividend and upskilling India’s youth population.
- And Australia’s vocational education framework as a model for a global workforce.
Before delving into these topics, I want to talk more about the work of the Australia India Institute. Our mission is simple – we’re dedicated to promoting understanding of Australia-India relations. Our work at the Institute is all about increasing recognition of the importance of India as a crucial partner in Australia’s future, and of Australia as a crucial partner in India’s future.
This begins with our four key program areas that focus on issues that are crucial to both our countries:
- Security and Geopolitics
- Bilateral economy and building trade and investment opportunities
- Cultural diplomacy
- And of course, international education.
Our work in International Education is promoting education engagement between Australia and India from many different angles: creating new links between Australian and Indian institutions, improving two-way market access by building sector knowledge and understanding, expanding research collaboration through workshops in priority research areas that bring researchers from both countries together, and identifying the new opportunities to work together presented by India’s National Education Policy.
Our research has explored ramifications of the Indian National Education Policy for Australian engagement, we’ve talked to students and agents and other stakeholders to better understand the drivers of Indian student mobility to Australia, and we have explored the potential for increased work-integrated learning engagement between Australia and India and the models which are most suitable for both systems.
This year, we partnered with researchers at India’s prestigious National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration and the Australian Department of Education to explore opportunities for the Australian VET sector in niche industries in India. We also launched our skills masterclass series designed to enhance the participation of Australian VET providers in India’s skill system. This series highlights the policy frameworks of skills development in India, and the opportunities for Australian VET providers.
One of our most exciting recent initiatives has been the launch of an online platform to promote bilateral research engagement. The Australia Researcher Cooperation Hub – India, or ARCH-India, showcases the research excellence of both countries, whilst increasing and strengthening our bilateral research collaboration networks and engagement by providing a platform for researchers and academics to connect and collaborate. I would encourage you all to have a look at the website arch-india.org.
One of the key features of ARCH-India, and one that the researchers are keenly interested in, is the promotion of funding opportunities available to researchers in Australia and India. These include funding programs that the Australia India Institute administers, with funding from the Australian Department of Education.
Through the ARCH-India platform, we delivered the Australia India Research Students or AIRS Fellowship program. Over the course of this year, the AIRS Fellowship program will see 63 Australian and Indian research students and post-doctoral scholars undertake short-term exchanges with awards of up to $10,000. Building life ling research connections.
The Institute also delivered the prestigious Australia-India ‘Unnati’ Research Collaboration Grants, through ARCH. Funded by the Australian Department of Education, the Unnati grants of up to $30,000 each support Australian researchers to engage collaboratively with Indian peers. They are anchored on the principle of the Hindi word “Unnati” – or advance as they strive to advance the impact of research collaborations.
And yesterday we announced the 12 successful Australian researchers of our Unnati grants. They come from nine Australian universities and are supported by Indian partners from more than 20 higher education institutions, research centres and industry. Their projects — which include a digital map designed for women’s safety, research tackling fluoride pollution in groundwater, and a test to support gut health – to name a few, will deepen ties and expand research collaboration with India.
Our work and research exploring education ties between Australia and India sets us apart and is what distinguishes us as the eminent research and policy think-tank on Australia-India relations.
I think it’s fair to say that few relationships have undergone such dramatic transformation in the last decade, and few have greater bipartisan support in Canberra than the relationship between Australia and India.
Through prime ministerial and ministerial visits, the implementation of the ECTA and ongoing Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations, our ties in multilateral arenas such as the QUAD, the G20, IORA and various trilaterals, to business and university delegations travelling to India, to mutual qualification recognition, to clean energy initiatives in green hydrogen and critical minerals research and investment. These ties reflect the bilateral importance of the Australia India relationship at a government level.
But still our ties go deeper. The India diaspora is Australia’s fastest growing. With census data stating 976,000 Australian’s have Indian-related ancestry, 673,000 of which were born in India. The contributions of the Indian diaspora to Australia’s prosperity are remarkable – 80% of Indian-born Australians have higher education qualifications compared to 65% of those born in Australia, reflecting a 77% participation rate in the labour force compared to 65% nationwide.
Alongside these economic and societal benefits, the rich cultural heritage of India and its diaspora community, is enriching the fabric of Australia – and contributing to shaping Australian identity as a diverse and multicultural nation.
The centrality of diaspora to the ongoing growth of Australia’s education ties with India cannot be understated. The Institute’s research on Indian student mobility in Australia highlights the crucial role diaspora and international student networks play in both shaping prospective students’ decisions to study in Australia – and enhancing their study experience. Working with diaspora communities and business will be key to making the most of India’s demographic dividend.
“India is the world’s youngest nation in terms of youth population,” with a median age of 28 years of age. Furthermore, Indian government data suggests that of the Indian workforce in the age group of 19–24, less than 5% have received formal vocational education. India’s demographic dividend demonstrates the scale of opportunity that exists, for Australian education providers, industry, and government in skilling India.
And whilst system and regulatory complexity remain a challenge. Indian and Australian governments are making progress to addressing barriers to entry. The Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications between Australia and India signed in March of this year, represents a marrying Australian and Indian qualification standard. It established a framework, allowing for the communication of Australia’s Qualifications Framework, and India’s National Skills Qualification Framework, and various standards of various vocational education (AICTE, NCVET, NCTE).
And with the current draft of India’s National Credit Framework, set to integrate academic and vocational education further, we will hopefully see a streamlining and standardisation of India’s qualification and creditation systems.
India’s National Credit Framework is reflective of the bold change and reformation agenda laid out in India’s National Education Policy – 2020. With reforms in Research, Higher education, Schooling and Vocational educational it is set to transform India’s education landscape over the next 20 years, further demonstrating the opportunity for Australia in skilling India.
Opportunities, which are beginning to be realised. The University of Melbourne has partnered with the prestigious Shoolini University in a landmark dual degree agreement, giving Indian students additional pathways to international education, and flexibility to study two years in both India and Australia. Beginning with undergraduate studies in science, the arrangement is set to expand to potentially include Agriculture, Sustainability and Environment, Biosciences, and Computer Science. Similarly, Deakin University and the University of Wollongong are establishing campuses in Gujarat.
VET initiatives such as the International Automobile Centre of Excellence (iACE), a partnership between Australia’s Kangan Institute, the Government of Gujarat and Maruti Suzuki – is further indicative of the progress Australian education providers have made. Delivering automotive courses and industry-led automotive teacher training programs to 3000 Indian students at a time.
Of course, entering the Indian market is not without its challenges. VET providers have reported difficulties in generating revenue in delivering transnational VET in India. Our research also suggested that attracting students to formal vocational education proved difficult due to the low status of vocational work in India, and the dominance of India’s informal skills sector.
With such a huge opportunity, that is not without its challenges, we are reminded that “India is big enough to accommodate all Australian education providers,” and the need to collaborate and share learnings from our experiences will remain crucial to making the most of opportunities in skilling India.
Hand in hand, with ‘skilling India’ is the opportunity to ‘resource Australia’. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of key sectors in Australia’s labour market. Our health and aged care sectors were decimated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Projections estimate a shortfall of nearly 40,000 nursing and care workers in 2024-25. Further shortages are expected in STEM talent – with job demand expected to grow at twice the rate of non-STEM occupations (14.2% vs. 7.4%). Additional workforce gaps in cybersecurity, IT and our services sector have also become apparent.
Despite these workforce gaps, we know international students still face difficulties in securing employment. 57.7% of international undergraduates are estimated to have full-time employment post-graduation compared to 78.5% of domestic graduates. Similarly, one in four migrants report working jobs that are below their skill level, with other studies reporting figures as high as 30%.
This skills mismatch is indicative of the need for international students, industry, education providers and governments to establish a more coordinated approach to resourcing Australia. One that better ensures positive prospects for international students, and that attracts the best and brightest graduates to Australia.
Our current migration system is failing international students and Australia. The Parkinson review of the migration system states, “Australia is not focused enough on capturing the best and brightest international students.” With “generous temporary work rights, unclear pathways to permanent residence, and variable support to succeed in our labour market leading to uncertainty” among international students.
These findings are now shaping Australia’s current migration reform agenda. Jobs and Skills Australia is set to have a permanent role in the migration system. Using evidence and data taken from industry, unions, and the education sector – it will identify priority labour shortages responding to the rapid shifts in industry demand we see today. Requirements for international students studying in Australia will also be tightening – lifting the bar to entry and cracking down on fraudulent visa applications and predatory education agents exploiting international students and their families.
India has a huge role to play in addressing workforce gaps and resourcing Australia. As of January – February in 2023 – Indian students made up 16% of international students studying Australian courses. This year Australian universities and vocational institutions are set to take in the biggest influx of Indian students, topping the 75,000-figure set in 2019.
Highlighting the potential in Australia and India partnering to skill India and resource Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit last May, saw the announcement of the MATES pilot program under the Migration and Mobility Partnership Arrangement (MMPA). The MATES program will annually offer 3000 recent Indian graduates and young professionals in targeted fields such as renewable energy, mining, engineering, information and communication technology two-year visas.
To conclude the closeness of the Australia – India bilateral relationship, India’s extensive talent pool and demographic dividend, Australia’s excellent education offering, and ongoing labour shortages create a strong case for partnership between India and Australia on international education.
‘Skilling India’ and ‘resourcing Australia’ is an immense task. One that will require coordination, collaboration, research, and time to establish how our government, industry and education providers can best partner to meet our international education needs.