India and France are to sign an agreement recognising each other’s academic degrees, from high school upwards, as equivalent with the exception of medicine and law degrees.
India has so far eschewed any such pact with any country because of differences in the duration of academic programmes, but has now shed its reluctance.
School education lasts 13 years in France but 12 years in India. Most undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are of the same duration in both countries — three and two years, respectively — but BTech courses in France are of three years compared with four years in India.