Advancing the Vocational Education Collaboration between India and Australia

Advancing the Vocational Education Collaboration between India and Australia

The Australia-India Skills Roundtable, facilitated by RMIT University in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has brought together key stakeholders from government, academia, and industry to explore the future of skilling and vocational education.

RMIT and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recently released a summary paper from a roundtable meeting held earlier in the year in New Delhi. The paper highlights key insights and actions aimed at leveraging vocational education to address India’s evolving skills agenda, activate youth talent, and create seamless pathways for lifelong learning. The report sets the stage for collaborative efforts to promote sustainable economic growth and workforce mobility between the two countries.

Highlights from the Summary Paper Report

With a shared vision of equipping the workforce with industry-relevant skills, parties at the roundtable examined key challenges, innovative training models, and collaborative approaches to strengthening vocational education ties between India and Australia. Key themes from the Summary Paper focused on:

  • Overcoming barriers in skills development and credential recognition

  • Innovative training models driven by industry needs and technological transformation

  • Scalable partnerships between educational institutions, government bodies, and the private sector

  • The impact of internationally recognised qualifications on global job mobility

  • Participants emphasised the need for vocational education to move beyond outdated perceptions and to be positioned as an aspirational and future-focused pathway for careers and lifelong learning.

The Industry Leadership Roundtable brought together representatives from RMIT University, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s National Council for Vocation Education and Training, All India Council for Technical Education, Austrade and BITS. The Industry Leadership Roundtable brought together representatives from RMIT University, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s National Council for Vocation Education and Training, All India Council for Technical Education, Austrade and BITS. 

Mish Eastman, RMIT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Vocational Education and Vice-President, said the Australia-India Skills Roundtable represented a shared commitment to reshaping vocational education into an engine for opportunity, mobility, and inclusion. 

“As industries across the globe demand a workforce with agile and job-ready skills, vocational education must continue to evolve, integrating cutting-edge technology and industry co-designed learning models,” she said. 

“The collaborative spirit fostered during the roundtable demonstrated a mutual understanding that vocational education can no longer be seen as a second choice. It is a powerful, aspirational pathway to rewarding careers and lifelong learning.” 

Sougata Roy Choudhury Executive Director, Skill Development, Affirmative Action and Industrial Relations at CII, adds that the summary report reflects the shared aspiration to create scalable models for skills development – ones that are rooted in global best practices but tailored to India’s unique context. 

“CII looks forward to leveraging Australia’s successful vocational education ecosystem to develop industry-relevant skills among youth, creating a talent pool that meets the needs of both India and global markets,” he said.
 

You can read the full Australia-India Skills Roundtable report here.

29 April 2025

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29 April 2025

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