The outflow of students to foreign universities is a drain of money away from India. What should be done?

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Despite Covid – 19, 91% Indian students choose to study abroad rather than in Indian Universities. The top destination countries are US, UK, Canada etc.

The reason behind this outflow of students is the diversification of courses offered in foreign Universities. Students like to explore things around the world. Indian Universities provide specified courses. There emerges a question of Diversification Vs Specialization. Students choose diversification and they leave India to pursue their education.

In India, more students compete for few seats. Only a handful of students get their dream course and others take the course for granted. Foreign Universities offer more opportunities and it attract Indian students more towards their country. There is heavy competition in India and it becomes difficult for students.

Foreign countries provide better health care facilities than India. Despite of Covid – 19, many countries opened their borders for students to provide education. They provide access to vaccination not only to their citizens but also to students who come from other countries, so students get benefit from this and make use of the opportunity they get.

Students who like to excel in research prefer to study abroad. Foreign Universities provide ample of opportunities to undertake research which is not provided in India when compared to other countries. Generally western countries top in research activities so students get attracted to their program which they provide.

India still lags behind other countries with respect to technology, infrastructure etc. Other countries are in the era of Industrial Revolution 5.0 that is Artificial Intelligence, Internet of things, Robotics etc.  But India is travelling along the path to strive for IR 5.0.  It remains a major reason because now - a - days world is getting revolutionized so students also like to cope up with the transforming world.

There are several other reasons such as lack of funding, political interference, less coordination among the executives etc.

Norway spends 6.7 % of GDP in the education sector and it is the highest in the world. India spends around 6% of GDP which was recommended by the National Education Policy (2020). Despite this, India ranks at 59 out of 64 countries int the Education sector. This shows that India lags in education sector all over the world.

Even though the NEP,2020 has many advantageous provisions, some of the provisions are not accepted by some of the states. This becomes an issue when implementing it because confusion arises whether to follow the norms of Union or of the states. People at every stake is not consulted while enacting a law. The lack of coordination hinders the progress of the process. Only 3 Indian Universities are in Top 200 in QS World Rankings. So students like to choose abroad more than Indian Universities.

Mostly persons of Indian origin are in top positions in the world. Ex: Kamala Harris - The Vice President of US and Mr. Sundar Pichai - The CEO of Google. So they stand as inspirations for many students and they also tend to migrate to other countries. The job opportunities are plenty in the foreign countries. Hence students like to get settle abroad.  In India there are only few opportunities for employment and more or less it seems temporary.

 This kind of migration is a loss for India. Because students settle there and work for their destination country. The economy of that country progresses more and more which hampers India’s economic growth, only few people like to come back to India. Economically India remains in the same position and does not get progressed.

There is a lot to be done in the Education sector to prevent the outflow of students. Hence Indian Universities should be given focus and should be placed in top positions. It should be capable of attracting more students.  Diversification of courses should be provided so that students are not given only limited choices. Training of faculties should be carried out in a rampant manner. They should be capable of providing classes which is provided in foreign Universities.

Funds should be provided by the Government in order to meet the arising demands. Political interference in appointments, corruption etc. should be weeded away. Education should be made access to all people irrespective of their background. Rich people study in private institutions and poor people study in Government institutions. This societal mindset should be changed so that more people will come forward to pursue education.

Infrastructure should be developed same as foreign Universities. Technology should be carried out in a progressive way so that achieving IR 5.0 becomes easy. Better facilities should be provided in the Universities such as food, education, internships, training etc.

Government should spend more in the education sector and money should be utilized for its own purpose. Every stake holder should be included in decision making process so that confrontations don’t occur.

India should focus on things in which it lags so that in the next future India can become a destination country to other foreign students. There is a long way ahead to travel in transforming India into a world class service provider country. It will be possible only if there is coordination among all the stakeholders.

- JNANDEEP BORA

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