GRE-type test for brain gain

Special bridge courses for nurses, paramedical personnel and caregivers to enhance their job prospects abroad

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 1

The Union Budget 2020-2021 may not stand out for impressive sector allocation for education but makes an ambitious start towards India’s own GRE and GMAT type of test for Asian and African students wishing to study here.

The Ind-SAT announcement in Finance Minister’s Budget speech today means HRD Ministry will soon launch a standardised aptitude test to be conducted in Asian and African countries to select students for Indian higher educational institutions.

The test will be along the lines of The Graduate Record Examinations used for admissions to graduate schools across the US and Canada.

The new examination would admit Asian and African students to a range of 1,500 courses – diploma to PhDs in all streams – being offered by 160 institutions across the country under HRD Ministry’s Study in India programme.

The idea is to boost foreign student import to India and improve India as a higher education destination.

India has the world’s third largest higher education system globally but currently has around 30,000 plus foreign registrations in Indian institutions. FM Sitharaman while announcing Ind-SAT today said, “India should be a preferred destination for higher education. Therefore, under its Study in India programme, an Ind-SAT is proposed to be held in Asian and African countries for benchmarking foreign candidates who receive scholarships for studying in Indian higher education centres.” The government’s thinking is to leverage the presence of Indian

HEIs among Asian top in QS rankings.

Sector allocation for HRD remains low as previous trends have shown. Budget outlay this year has been raised from Rs 93, 848 crore to Rs 99,300 crore — mere Rs 5,452 crore which makes 5.8 pc hike.

Another Rs 3,000 crore have been allocated for skill development in Budget 2020-2021.

HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank welcomed the Budget for its focus on employment generation after FM announced that 150 higher educational institutions will start apprenticeship embedded degree and diploma courses by March, 2021. She also said degree-level online education programmes will be launched for students of deprived sections and external commercial borrowings and FDI will be encouraged for financing education infrastructure in India.

“Special bridge courses for nurses, para medical staff and care givers will be launched to enhance their employability abroad as there is tremendous demand of these cadres abroad,” the FM said, announcing a National Police University and National Forensic Science University.

The FM’s announcements were made in the backdrop that by 2030, India would have the largest working age population in the world and would require both literacy and life skills. Much of the government’s focus in HRD would be revealed in the New Education Policy which the FM said “is coming soon.”

Hiked allocation

2020-2021 Rs99,300 crore

2019-2020 Rs93,848 crore

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