India-South Africa India-South Africa 2019 | Page 30

A Helping Hand
India’s Education and Capacity Building
Initiatives in South Africa
Mandira Bagwandeen*
I
ndia’s relations with South Africa span
several decades and have a strong
emotional connect. It is in South Africa
that Mahatma Gandhi started his political
career, and during apartheid, India supported
the African National Congress’s (ANC)
opposition against the oppressive government.
Since South Africa’s fi rst democratic elections
in 1994, relations between Pretoria and New
Delhi have grown from strength to strength.
Over the years, in the name of South-South
Cooperation, India has offered various
education and capacity building programmes
to assist South Africa in advancing its socio-
economic development.
A notable example is the Indian Technical
and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
Programme founded in 1964. It is a bilateral
programme of assistance which is fully
funded by the Indian government. As pointed
out by India’s High Commissioner to South
Africa, Ruchira Kamboj “ITEC is entirely
voluntary and free of conditions and fosters
national development priorities of individual
30 • India-South Africa • 2019
countries by assisting in training and capacity
building, having national ownership at its
centre.” 1 The programme offers training
courses at world-class institutes in India and
welcomes young professionals and people
from developing countries, including South
Africa. There are 56 institutions enrolled that
off er 318 courses in various fi elds such as
accounting and other fi nance-related fi elds, IT,
telecommunications, management, SME/rural
development, energy, and the environment. 2
Applicants not only have a chance to visit
India but an opportunity to learn new skills
and knowledge which they can apply and
disseminate when they return home.
South African students can also apply
for the Indian Council for Cultural Relations
(ICCR) Scholarship Scheme. . The initiative
offers academic opportunities for African
students to study in India by way of providing
scholarships for them to undertake under-
graduate, post-graduate, and higher courses
at Indian universities and institutions. This
scheme provides 900 scholarships to students