Auckland, April 14 (Inditop.com) India and New Zealand have signed an agreement to strengthen and broaden their ties in the field of education during the April 11-13 visit by Indian Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal.

New Zealand Education Minister Anne Tolley and Sibal signed the agreement to strengthen and broaden New Zealand’s education engagement with India, an official release of the New Zealand government said here.

Sibal said collaborative projects and activities are planned in the areas of technical and vocational education, open and distance learning, research cooperation and higher education.

New Zealand and India have also agreed to encourage institutional networking and exchange of officials and personnel.

Sibal suggested New Zealand can look at the area of teachers training programme as India needs thousands of teachers and there is an opportunity for business investors from both countries in this sector.

Wenceslaus Anthony, India NZ Business chairperson, said this agreement would encourage some of the beneficial factors in the New Zealand sector to be incorporated into the educational system in India.