80.3% of International Scholars accounted for 16 Programs in India
Just 16 sorts of programs across India account for quite 80% of international student enrolments, consistent with data released by the Indian Government this month, with quite 20% of scholars enrolled in B Tech courses.
The 10th edition of the All India Survey on Education (AISHE) also revealed that 49,348 international scholars enrolled in the country’s education during the 2019/20 school year, a slight increase from 47,427 last year.
“International experts come from 168 different countries from all over the world. The highest proportion of students from neighboring countries are as follows Nepal contributes 28.1% of the total, followed by Afghanistan 9.1%, Bangladesh 4.6% and Bhutan 3.8%,” the report noted.
“The top 10 countries in terms of the number of scholars coming from also includes Sudan (3.6%), US (3.3%), Nigeria (3.1%), Yemen (2.9%), Malaysia (2.7%), UAE (2.7%).
“Except for the US and Malaysia, the number of male scholars coming from these top 10 countries were above the number of female scholars.”
A little but three out of 4 international scholars in India were undergraduates, 16.6% were postgraduates, and 9.1% were studying at other levels.
“Looking at the State-wise distribution, it is often seen that Karnataka has the very best number of scholars coming from foreign countries, which is 10,231. aside from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh (5,089), Punjab (4,966), Maharashtra (4,599), Tamil Nadu (4,461), Delhi (2,345), Haryana (2,321), Telangana (2,261), Gujarat (2,227) and Andhra Pradesh (2,094) reflects quite 2,000 foreign scholars,” the report additionally highlighted.
Despite the Government’s launch of Study in India in 2018, the number of international scholars within the country has not changed significantly, increasing by just over 10,000 between 2013/14 and last year.
According to Study in India, “India ranked because of the second-largest education system, home to 45,000 colleges, and 950 universities”. However, it’s traditionally seen more as a source of scholars instead of a destination.
Although scholarships exist for college scholars and initiatives, they have aimed to focus on prospective scholars abroad, particularly in Asia and Africa.
Critics have argued that India’s National Education Policy, including measures to bring foreign campuses to India during a bid to internationalize the upper education system, offered little provision for increasing international student numbers.
That said, despite the pandemic, Kerala University recently announced that it had received a record 1.042 applications for college kids for the new school year.
“The maximum number of applicants are from Afghanistan and Iraq, and in both cases, the admission is sought mostly for PhD courses,” said Sabu Joseph, director of the Centre for Global Academics at the university, adding that “most candidates seeking admission to PhD courses are college teachers”.
Study in India has also continued to plug into international scholars. Earlier in June, it ran the five-day Study in India Expo 2021 online, featuring quite 45 local universities, which they said attracted over 4,000 visitors from 77 countries.
“The expo allowed scholars to connect with prominent universities and institutions over five days,” explained Sanjeev Bolia, founder and director of AFAIRS Exhibitions and Media, one among the event organizers.
“To provide the full potential of our broader Indian education network to attract international scholars, the time has come for all people to play a part in making India one of the world’s top international scholars… we will build a collaborative effort. On these challenges at times.”
