Indian National Commission For Cooperation With UNESCO

India has been a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations since its inception in 1946.  Article VII of the constitution of UNESCO requires that “each Member State shall make such arrangements as suit its particular conditions for purposes of associating its principal bodies interested in educational, scientific and cultural matters with the work of the Organization, preferably by the formation of a National Commission broadly representative of the government of such bodies” and further defines that “National Commission or National Co-operating delegations to the General Conference and to their Governments in matters relating to the Organization and shall function as agencies of liaison in all matters of interest to it”.  Accordingly, an interim Indian National Commission for Co-operation with UNESCO was set up in 1949 by the Government of India, Ministry of Education, Resolution No.F.84-92/48-A.1, dated the 26th March, 1949.  A permanent Commission was established in 1951 through the Government of India, Ministry of Education, Resolution No.F.134-27/50-A.5, dated the 16th October, 1951
 

To promote understanding of the objects and purposes of UNESCO among the people of the Republic of India ;

To serve as a liaison agency between the Government of India and the institutions concerned with the working for the advancement of education, science and culture;

To co-operate with the Government departments and with services, organizations and institutions concerned with questions within UNESCO’s competence;

To encourage participation of national, governmental and non-governmental institutions and various individuals in the formulations and execution of UNESCO’s programmes so as to secure for UNESCO all the intellectual, scientific artistic or administrative assistance that it may require;

To collaborate with the National Commissions of Asia and the Pacific and with UNESCO’s Regional Offices and centers in fostering regional, sub-regional and bilateral co-operation in education, the sciences, culture and information, particularly through the joint formulation and execution of programmes;

To disseminate information on the objectives, programme and activities of UNESCO and endeavour to arouse public interest in them; and

To advise the Government of India on matters relating to UNESCO

Recognizing the profound impact of education educational exchange between nations on the social, economic and technological development, which further contribute to national and collective self-reliance, the Ministry has initiated various activities to enhance bilateral and international collaboration in education sector. Earlier, proposals for educational exchanges used to be an integral part of the Cultural Exchange Programmes (CEP) formulated and implemented by the Department of Culture which formed part of the Ministry of HRD (now a separate Ministry). To give a more focused attention to meaningful cooperation sharing the best practices in the field of education for mutual benefit, independent agreements in the form of Educational Exchange Programme (EEP) or Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) have been initiated with various countries. So far, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has signed EEPs/MoUs with 23 countries. Proposals for EEPs with 30 other countries are at various stages of negotiation. In addition, possibility of signing specific MoUs for mutual recognition and equivalence of academic credentials with different countries is also being explored. The EEP/MoU signed by the Ministry is of an over-arching nature within which the apex bodies/ institutions under the Ministry can go for specific arrangements with their counterparts in different countries. Various Higher Education Institutions in the country have entered into such arrangements based on their scope and requirements for exchange of scholars, research material, students and for conducting joint seminars, training programmes, etc. 

Apart from the agreements with individual countries, cooperation in various fields of human resource development is also strengthened through having an active role in international organizations like SAARC, Commonwealth, ASEAN etc.