“Innovation and collaboration are important for economies at each degree and in each nook of the Earth.
“No nation has a monopoly on brilliant concepts so the extra we speak to 1 one other, the larger the scope for developing with options,” stated Gillian Keegan, secretary of state for schooling, in a speech on the London occasion on Might 8.
“Probably the most fruitful methods of doing that is by encouraging worldwide college students,” she added.
Keegan stated she is “vastly proud” that the UK welcomes greater than 600,000 worldwide college students every year. Within the 2021/22 educational yr, the nation’s establishments welcomed a complete of 679,970 non-UK college students.
“We don’t simply wish to take excellence from others, we wish to share our personal too,” continued Keegan.
She nodded to the success of Heriot-Watt’s Dubai campus – the primary campus of an abroad college to open in Dubai Worldwide Tutorial Metropolis in 2005 – noting that it started with 120 college students and now has 4,000.
“Worldwide schooling is standard. It makes us all richer. All of us profit as we construct partnerships and lasting bonds. That’s one thing we worth vastly.”
Yesterday, @GillianKeegan welcomed the world’s largest gathering of schooling and abilities ministers on the Schooling World Discussion board.
Worldwide collaboration on schooling strengthens us and helps develop resilience in folks and establishments.#EWF2023 pic.twitter.com/RGeAkUiKcS
— Division for Schooling (@educationgovuk) May 9, 2023
Keegan stated she is “delighted” that the Turing Scheme has continued for its third yr.
“This yr the scheme is unlocking alternatives for greater than 38,000 UK college students and learners who will acquire worldwide expertise, growing abilities and experience,” she famous.
She highlighted the alternatives the scheme has given to these historically underserved, with 51% of the worldwide placements throughout 160 international locations earmarked for these from deprived backgrounds.
“The Turing Scheme is really international in scope, with each nation on the earth eligible as a vacation spot for UK college students, together with EU international locations.”
Keegan highlighted that the worldwide facet of the scheme is especially useful to language learners with extra international locations, cultures and languages inside attain for UK members.
Nevertheless, some stakeholders have continued to criticise the scheme for its lack of reciprocity and “problematic” funding timeline.
“Worldwide mobility is rising however so is international competitiveness for expertise. We’re in a world race, not only for expertise however for expertise. The industries of the long run, whether or not AI, quantum computing, inexperienced expertise or life sciences, rely not simply on having expertise in our personal international locations however on deep and lasting partnerships,” the minister stated.
The theme of this yr’s discussion board was ‘New Beginnings: Nurturing Studying Tradition, Constructing Resilience, Selling Sustainability. Stronger, Bolder, Higher Schooling by Design’ and impressed many remarks about the rising potential of expertise’s assist for schooling’s core goals, together with these from Keegan about AI utilized in schooling settings.
“I do know in some international locations there’s a knee-jerk response to AI. It’s going to be the tip of mankind as we all know it, some cry.”
Nevertheless, Keegan stated that AI is making a distinction in colleges and universities already and offers far larger scope for “actually transformative change”.
The Division for Schooling lately revealed a coverage paper, outlining its place on generative AI in schooling.
