The National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) under India's Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) have signed a Letter of Intent to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the regulation and quality assurance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). This agreement emerged as an important outcome of the Indian Prime Minister's recent visit to Australia.
The collaboration reflects the shared commitment of both countries to deepen cooperation in vocational education by promoting institutional partnerships between their national quality assurance regulators. The partnership will focus on areas including quality assurance frameworks, regulatory approaches, accreditation practices, monitoring systems, capacity building, staff exchanges, and joint workshops aimed at enhancing the effectiveness, credibility, and global relevance of vocational education.
ASQA will facilitate engagement with relevant stakeholders to explore cooperation relating to mutual recognition and benchmarking of qualifications, digital credentialing mechanisms, alignment of occupational standards, and exchange of insights into labor market trends. NCVET Chairperson Debashree Mukherjee emphasized that the partnership aims to exchange knowledge, strengthen regulatory practices, build institutional capacities, and promote innovation for a more credible, learner-centric, and globally benchmarked TVET ecosystem. Executive Member Prof (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Gaba noted this marks an important milestone in NCVET's efforts to strengthen quality assurance through international collaboration.
NCVET serves as India's national regulator for vocational education, responsible for recognition and regulation of Awarding Bodies and Assessment Agencies, approval of NSQF-aligned qualifications, and promoting quality assurance in skill development. ASQA is Australia's national VET regulator that ensures quality vocational education so that students, industry, governments and the community have confidence in national qualifications.