Bhubaneswar: Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi Friday hailed Odisha as an ancient centre of learning and knowledge, saying the state’s rich civilisational legacy reflects India’s enduring educational traditions.
Addressing the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting, Joshi also reaffirmed India’s commitment to a people-centric and humanity-first approach to education cooperation as member nations adopted the Bhubaneswar Declaration on strengthening collaboration in education, research, innovation and skill development.
Chairing the meeting, Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said education systems must continuously evolve through innovation to meet the aspirations of future generations while remaining rooted in human values.
Referring to India’s BRICS Chairship 2026 theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” he said learners, teachers, researchers and youth should remain at the centre of policymaking and international collaboration.
Joshi reiterated India’s commitment to working closely with BRICS partners and expressed confidence that the outcomes of the meeting would translate into concrete action. Highlighting the importance of balancing innovation with heritage, the minister stressed the need to preserve and promote traditional and indigenous knowledge systems.
The meeting was attended by Education Ministers, senior officials and delegates from Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
The declaration outlined a roadmap for cooperation in five key areas: strengthening Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN); expanding collaboration in skill development and Techni cal and Vocational Education and Training (TVET); promoting joint research, innovation and the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in education; advancing mutual recognition of academic qualifi cations to boost student mobility; and strengthening academic leader ship through faculty exchanges, scholarships and institutional partnerships.
The ministers also welcomed India’s proposal on guiding principles for strengthening academic collaboration on traditional and indigenous knowledge systems.