India will host the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting and the 3rd BRICS Senior Officials’ Meeting in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, from August 5 to 7, bringing together education ministers, senior officials and delegates from BRICS member countries to strengthen cooperation in education, skills development, research and innovation.
The meetings, being organised by the Ministry of Education under India’s BRICS Chairship 2026, will be attended by Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi. The deliberations will focus on key areas aimed at enhancing educational collaboration and promoting inclusive, innovation-driven growth among BRICS nations.
The agenda includes strengthening Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), expanding cooperation in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) through the BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance, promoting collaborative research, innovation and start-ups, advancing the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications (MRQ) framework, and building capacity for academic leadership across member countries.
India’s BRICS Chairship is being guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” reflecting the people-centric and humanity-first vision articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2025 BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The ministerial meeting builds on a series of engagements held under the BRICS Education Track during India’s presidency. Earlier this year, the first and second BRICS Senior Officials’ Meetings were held on April 7 and April 28, followed by the BRICS Network University Conference and the International Governing Board Meeting on July 20–21. These discussions helped shape the priorities and proposed outcomes for the ministerial-level deliberations.
Ahead of the Education Ministers’ Meeting, the BRICS TVET Symposium and the Joint Management Committee Meeting of the BRICS TVET Cooperation Alliance were held in New Delhi on August 304, under the leadership of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The meetings focused on enhancing cooperation in technical and vocational education, workforce preparedness, skills development, and the exchange of best practices among BRICS countries.
As part of India’s broader efforts to promote people-to-people engagement during its BRICS Chairship, the government has also launched the Model BRICS initiative. Designed as a student-focused platform, the programme will be organised alongside BRICS ministerial meetings across the country to familiarise young people with BRICS institutions, diplomacy, multilateral cooperation and consensus-building.
