Singapore and India should think about internship exchanges between their universities, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Monday.
He noted that the Indian tech and fintech sectors are very vibrant and the Indian Institutes of Technology produce top-notch talent.
Singapore universities are also doing well, and both sides understand the importance of having cross-cultural experiences, he said.
"We have no problems getting our students to participate in internships in New York and London. Lately, internships in China are very popular," he added, hoping that stints in India would become popular. "It is wise for us to keep reiterating the message and find meaningful projects and internships."
Mr Ong was speaking to reporters at the end of a one-day trip to Tamil Nadu to attend the 2nd Singapore-India Joint Hackathon in Chennai. He also visited Unesco world heritage site Mamallapuram.
He noted that such hackathons - where students collaborate to come up with solutions to real-life challenges in education, healthcare and clean energy - show how institutes of higher learning are becoming more experiential.
He was also glad that this year's format saw mixed teams from both countries, and heard that one team had started a company. "They are still arguing whether they should cooperate in Chennai or Singapore, but they will sort it out," he said.
"Education is always a beautiful area to forge all kinds of collaboration and rarely do we have differences. We all want to do the best for our young."
Mr Ong also visited Anna University's Tamil Virtual Academy, which is a resource hub for teaching the language digitally through videos and virtual classrooms.
He said Singapore's Student Learning Space e-learning portal is being used to teach mother tongue languages. "This is a capability that we are still building, and we will continue to look at how different countries do it," he added.
Mr Ong noted that the Language Elective Programme (LEP) will be extended to secondary schools next year, including at three schools for Tamil. A cultural immersion visit to Tamil Nadu is being planned.
He said the LEP has been a success, producing students who are now involved in areas such as journalism and cultural industries.
"As we globalise, we have to work with other countries. When you have no common understanding with another country, you're going to have clashes," he said. "I hope that in a place like Singapore, all our students will have that sort of cross-cultural skills, and this must start with learning languages."
