School students in Victoria will have the opportunity to travel to India on a new cultural exchange program as part of an ambitious strategy recently announced to strengthen Victoria’s economic and cultural ties with India.
Premier Daniel Andrews who is on his first official trip to India visited the Bluebells School International in Delhi on Tuesday and participated in a school lesson conducted via skype with Bluebells’ Victorian sister school, Rangebank Primary School in Cranbourne.
Premier’s India visit follows the launch of the Government’s new strategy – Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future – in Melbourne on Sunday.
The strategy is an ambitious blueprint aimed at doubling Victoria’s goods exports to India, attracting more international students to world-leading education providers and encouraging more people from India to experience what Victoria can offer.
Education is a key focus of the strategy, with Mr Andrews announcing three new initiatives to strengthen Victoria’s relationship with India by engaging with the next generation of young people. These include:
- A new two-year Victorian Young Leaders to India pilot which will see up to 200 Victorian Year 7-9 students and 25 teachers travel to India and complete two to four-week immersion programs
- A two-year Women in School Leadership Program that helps female school leaders, including principals and senior teachers, from Victoria and India to share knowledge related to school leadership, change management and Education State priorities
- A two-year Victorian Schools and Indian Diaspora Partnerships Program to deepen Victorian schools’ engagement with India by harnessing the knowledge of the Indian diaspora to develop and support partnerships between schools in India and Victoria.
Mr Andrews also presented Victoria’s India Strategy: Our Shared Future to senior Indian government officials and business leaders in Delhi on Tuesday.
Premier Andrews said, “Victoria is proudly home to the largest number of people with Indian heritage in Australia – it’s only right our students understand the significance of Indian culture, and the economic contribution India makes to our state.”
“This will give our up and coming young leaders the chance to showcase Victoria’s strengths to other Indian young people, while at the same time immersing themselves in Indian culture and building their leadership skills.”
