50% upsurge in students flying abroad for studies

Tribune News Service

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Chandigarh, February 6

A nearly 50 per cent rise has been witnessed in the number of students going abroad for higher studies over the past five years, Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The query was raised by MPs Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh, Dinesh Chandra Yadav and Santosh Kumar. The numbers have increased from 5,17,998 students in 2018 to 7,50,365 in 2022. The student outflow had gone down to 2,59,655 during the peak Covid period in 2020. The count stood at 4,44,553 in 2021.

Dr Sarkar said the Bureau of Immigration in the Ministry of Home Affairs maintains the data of arrivals and departure of Indians. At the same time, the reply also read that there was “no index for capturing the category of Indians going abroad for education purpose”. “The purpose of Indians going abroad for higher education was maintained manually based either on the verbal disclosure of immigrants or the type of visa of the destination country produced by them at the time of immigration clearance,” he said.

The minister also said there was no proposal to set up an international university in the country. However, the University Grants Commission has drafted enabling regulations to facilitate establishment of campuses of foreign higher educational institutions in India. The draft University Grants Commission (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations, 2023, has been placed in the public domain seeking feedback, suggestions, comments, etc.