BRICS Nations adopt Joint Education Declaration with focus on AI, skills

India on Friday reaffirmed its commitment to a people-centric and humanity-first approach to BRICS cooperation as the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting concluded in Bhubaneswar with the adoption of a joint declaration outlining a roadmap for strengthening collaboration in education, skills, research and innovation. Chairing the meeting, Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi said education must remain the foundation of inclusive growth and shared prosperity while preparing young people for emerging opportunities through innovation, cooperation and sustainability. Referring to the theme of India’s BRICS Chairship 2026 – “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” – Joshi said education systems should continuously evolve to meet the aspirations of future generations while remaining rooted in human values.

India's #BRICS Chairship is guided by the theme of Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability, each of which holds special relevance for education. Our education systems must withstand disruptions, embrace continuous innovation, foster deeper cooperation and build… pic.twitter.com/GLAvNIISxY

— Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) August 7, 2026

The meeting was attended by ministers, senior officials and delegates from Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. The 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Declaration identified five priority areas for future cooperation. These include expanding access to quality early childhood care and education and strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy; enhancing cooperation in technical and vocational education and training (TVET); promoting joint research, innovation, start-up ecosystems and the ethical use of artificial intelligence in education; advancing mutual recognition of academic qualifications to facilitate student mobility; and strengthening academic leadership, faculty exchanges, scholarship programmes and institutional development.
The declaration also recognised India’s proposal on guiding principles for strengthening academic collaboration on traditional and indigenous knowledge systems. It suggested that the BRICS Network University consider including traditional and indigenous knowledge as an additional international thematic area for collaboration.