IGNOU draws most foreign students to India: study

The study,conducted by Prof Dayanand Dongaonkar and senior research assistant Dr Usha Rai Negi for the Association of Indian Universities (AIU),has also categorised those coming to study in India by country of origin.

Students from more than 130 countries came to study in India in 2005-06. While over 10,000 came from Asia,over 2,000 hailed from African nations. The study further shows that the biggest chunk of students coming to India for higher education are from the UAE — up from 1,500 students in 2004-05 to 2,034 in 2005-06 — with neighbour Nepal sending in the next highest number of students at around 1,400 in 2005-06. Iran with 1,264 students,Saudi Arabia with 551 and Sri Lanka and Kenya with 535 and 523 respectively are next on the list that includes Mauritius,Oman and Bahrain among the top ten nations that send their students to India for higher learning. Over 400 students came from the US,254 from Vietnam,128 from Canada,40 from Germany,18 from Greece and 68 from the UK. Other nations represented in India’s campuses are Venezuela,Finland,Norway and Sudan.

The SAARC nations alone send over 2,800 students,although the number has gone down from 3,200 in 2004-05.

Keeping in mind the increasing number of foreigners coming to India for higher education,the Prime Minister’s Office had last year even instituted a committee to examine the problems faced by the foreign student community in India. The committee headed by ICCR head Pawan Verma had recommended a series of measures to ease the admission process and facilitate the stay of foreign students in the country. The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry had accordingly issued a set of guidelines recently to achieve the same end,asking varsities to establish a single window system to help foreign students secure admission and more easily navigate the security check process.