India and China could enter into an agreement on recognising each other's certificates in higher education, a move that would facilitate cross-border mobility of students for advanced studies and job purposes.
A delegation from China recently visited India and held discussions with the HRD ministry officials to have mutual recognition of certificates.
"Both India and China have similar pattern of education system at elementary and higher education stages. We held discussions on how to have mutual recognition of certificates or equivalence of certificates," a ministry official said.
The mutual recognition of certificates would help students from either country to migrate to any of the countries and pursue further education or job.
At present, India and China are not recognising the degrees awarded by the universities of any of the countries. While China follows 6+3+3 system of schooling, India follows 10+2 system. In both the cases, it is 12-year schooling followed by university education.
"We will examine the courses at the university level and see how to have equivalence of certificates," the official said.
Apart from China, India is in negotiation with France for mutual recognition of certificates at university level.
The mutual recognition of certificates is done on one-to-one basis between countries which recognise each other's degrees.
At present, India does not have mutual recognition of degrees with any country for PG and medical courses. As a result, holders of such degrees have to appear in certain tests to be eligible for further education or job.
India is also seeking for permanent membership of Washington Accord which would enable Indian students get their degrees recognised in the member countries of the accord.
Currently, there is hardly any problem with regard to recognising the school education certificates. Problems are faced with regard to PG and post-PG certificates, the official said.
The Chinese delegation also discussed about partnership in areas of school education. China wants to promote education in Chinese language in India.
The delegation also discussed about starting scholarship at elementary and higher education levels. PTI
