Hyderabad, The British Council has entered into a partnership with the Telangana and Welsh governments for research and education exchange.

Telangana's Education Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and her counterpart from UK's Wales, Kirsty Williams MS, signed an MoU to further bilateral research and education exchange between both the entities.

The MoU will facilitate the development of collaborative and mutually beneficial programmes in Telangana and contribute to increased research and social linkages in the field of higher education between the two sides.

The MoU is a result of longstanding collaboration between the Telangana government and the UK. Over the last few years, the British Council, the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, and the Telangana State Higher Education Council (TSHEC) have been collaborating to achieve Telangana's knowledge and employment ambitions for its youth.

In October 2018, British Council South India, and the Telangana government, signed an MoU on strengthening education and cultural cooperation in Telangana by creating opportunities for young people in the state. This key partnership was followed by a high-level delegation of UK universities Vice Chancellors to India in September 2019 as part of British Council's UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) programme.

As an outcome of the state MoU and the VC delegation, the Welsh government and the Telangana State Higher Education Council, are now moving forward, to ensure that the both the higher education teams work on deepening and enhancing the existing relationship and work on mutually beneficial areas of interest in the field of education.

The key areas of interest include promoting research, entrepreneurship, and innovation, university partnerships including areas of science and technology and improving employability and skills among students in Telangana.

"Through this MoU and our strategic partnership with Global Wales, I see real scope for developing research partnerships, student and academic exchanges that will mutually benefit both Wales and Telangana, now and in future," said Williams.

"This first of its kind partnership between an Indian state and Wales will help strengthen international exchange between the higher education sectors of India and the UK, leading to greater research, innovation and stronger education systems. This partnership will further support our existing initiatives such as UKIERI and Newton Bhabha and create more education and employment opportunities for the aspiring, young people of Telangana," said Barbara Wickham, Director India, British Council.

"Over 40 per cent of Telangana's population is in the employable 18-40 age bracket, and we are confident that this MoU will provide impetus to the ambitions of Telangana's youth who aspire to be a part of a global workforce. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Telangana government and to be able to enable collaboration between higher education institutes in Telangana and Wales to improve education and research outcomes, impacting student employability," said Janaka Pushpanathan, the Council's Director, South India.

Sabitha Indra Reddy said that MoU will improve students' access to quality education, skills and employability, by providing them with the right research and entrepreneurial skills. The programmes planned under the MoU will ensure long-lasting academic and social linkages with the higher education institutions in Wales, she added.