Information Sharing and Policy to facilitate Global Knowledge Demand: says Manoj Kumar of Diaspora Services
Published Date: Friday, Jun 14, 2013
Information Sharing and Policy to facilitate Global Knowledge Demand: says Manoj Kumar of Diaspora Services
An International Workshop on the Student Mobility and Knowledge-based Economies was organised on 14th June 2013 at JNU Convention Centre by India Centre for Migration (ICM), a think tank of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in association with International Migration and Diaspora Studies Project (IMDS), Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Dlehi and European Union Delegation to India, New Delhi. The day long workshop brought together experts from diverse backgrounds such as academics, policy, grassroots activism etc. in EU countries and India to address the issues of student mobility and the challenges faced by both India and European Unions (EU). The workshop shared the findings of the research project titled “Developing Knowledgebase for Policy making on India EU Migration”.
The inaugural address was given by Mr. T.K. Manoj Kumar, Joint Secreatary, Diaspora Services, MOIA and Chief Executive Officer, ICM. Student mobility, according to him, student mobility can be contexualised in the colonial past of India with the European countries especially Britain, France and Dutch. He said that the “relation between India and EU is one of the oldest among International relations. India being the colonial country has exchange of ideas, goods, people (labour/students). In the post colonial phase also the relationship continued”. Mr. Kumar mentioned that the post 1990s is a phase where migration of scholars was phenomenal as a result of emergence of knowledge economy. This phase marked by sectoral policy dialogue and the mobility of student faculty through exchange programmes. In this context Mr. Kumar emphasised the need for better coordination for information sharing among stakeholders in both sides for better policy formulation. Mr. Kumar mentioned that academic mobility is a part of global knowledge demand. Indian students constitute about 5 % of the student population in EU.