 "Now a 'Study in India' from the BJP stable")
After launching programmes like Make in India and Skill India, the Bharatiya Janata Party government is planning to launch "Study in India" to attract foreign students to Indian education institutions.
Directors of three universities and institutions part of the discussions confirmed to Business Standard that the Ministry of Human Resource Development has sought inputs from them for a possible scheme on Study in India.
"The ministry has sought our inputs on how can more foreign students be brought to India for their higher education. How can we address the concerns of foreign students and reach out to them to promote India as a foreign education destination," said the director of a higher education institution from New Delhi on the condition of anonymity.
This plan, directors said, will be part of the New Education Policy that the government is drafting. As per the plan government would select a few universities which could be fit to host international students so as to provide them with good academic infrastructure while their study period in the country.
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"We have provided the government with our inputs on this. For our courses, we receive foreign students on our campus from across the world. We have suggested measures to the MHRD how we can leverage on this," said a professor from Manipal Univeristy.
For its undergraduate coures, Manipal University earmarks 15 per cent of its seats for international students under foreign/Non-Resident Indians (NRI) category which include foreign citizens, Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card Holders, OCI (Overseas Citizens of India). For 75 seats in its medical programmes, Manipal University receives 300 applications from world over.
"If Study in India is launched, the number of foriegn students we receive can go up. We however, will have to ensure that this does not happen at the cost of seats allotted to Indian students," the Manipal University professor added.
The cost of education in India, is far less as compared to that in other countries. According to a study by HSBC conducted last September, India emerged the least expensive destination for foreign education, against Australia, the costliest
According to the report, the average annual cost including university fees and living expenditure of an undergraduate international student in India is around $5,642 per annum, while for Australia it is as high as $42,093 a year.
Australia, a popular destination for Asian students, is the most expensive option globally followed by Singapore at $39,229 and USA at $36,564.
Moreover, overseas students need to spend on an average $35,045 a year for undergraduate studies and living in the UK, the survey said adding that the comparative yearly costs stand at $12,627 in Brazil, $10,729 in China and $9,460 in case of Mexico.
There are more than 17,000 colleges, 20 central universities, 217 State universities, 106 Deemed Universities and 13 Institutes of National importance in the Indian higher education system.
Professors said that to attract foreign students, Indian universities will have to upgrade their infrastructure in terms of classrooms, hostel accomodation, and a better student teacher ratio.
"A lot of our institutes need to have conducive environment and infrastructure for foreign student," said a professor.
As per a 2014 report of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), India is gradually emerging as a preferred destination for foreign students, particularly from the South Asian region. The growth in the number of foreign students in India has been impressive. The latest data available till 2011-12 shows that within a year, India received 5625 more students, an increase of almost 20.43% from the last year.
In 2011, these students came from 153 countries. India is slowly expanding not only in terms of the number of students but also the number countries from which these students come.
According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2011?12 (the latest), Nepal contributed the highest percentage of foreign students in India. Of the total foreign students, nearly 19 per cent were from Nepal, followed by, in descending order, Bhutan, Iran, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Sudan and Iraq. Even though, the share of foreign students from the top ten countries has increased in a year’s time, the rise is not uniform.
India is also gradually emerging as a hub for tertiary education in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region as it has a relatively large higher education system and capacity to absorb students from neighboring countries.
For instance, India received highest number (92%) of the students in Nursing from Nepal and the remaining were from 23 other countries. However, Afghanistan was the highest contributor for enrollments in commerce (13%) and the remaining students came from 74 other countries.
In 2011?12, India received 5847 students for post-graduate studies as opposed to 25283 students at the under?graduate level in India.
