On 18 November, education ministers from BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – met in Moscow, Russia for the third time to continue the dialogue on collaboration in education. The meeting resulted in the adoption of an agreement on cooperation in education among BRICS countries, which represent over 3 billion people. The deal covers a range of areas including general education, educational policy strategy, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and higher education. With regards to higher education, the ministers committed to working towards developing common principles of accreditation, recognition of qualifications and quality assurance.
The meeting also saw the signing of a
memorandum establishing the BRICS Network University (BRICS NU), a network of the BRICS member countries’ higher education institutions. This project aims to develop bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the form of joint master degrees and doctoral programmes, joint research projects and academic mobility between BRICS NU participants. Priority fields for cooperation include energy, computer science and information security, BRICS studies, ecology and climate change, water resources and pollution treatment, and economics. The BRICS NU platform, featuring up to 12 institutions per each member country in the first stage, is expected to train a new crop of skilled experts with an understanding of the emerging BRICS economies.
Press release
Moscow Cooperation Declaration
Memorandum of Understanding for Establishment of the BRICS Network University 
