Over 6.46 lakh students went to study abroad, higher than 2021: MoS Education

Responding to a question raised by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, Union MoS (education) Subhas Sarkar said 6,46,206 Indians went abroad showing their purpose as “higher education” till November 30, 2022.

According to past data, the numbers have steadily risen over the years.

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Over six lakh Indians went abroad for higher education till November this year, compared with 4.44 lakh in 2021, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The numbers corroborate the uptick in visas issued by the US and the UK to Indian students this year.

Responding to a question raised by Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan, Union MoS (education) Subhas Sarkar said 6,46,206 Indians went abroad showing their purpose as “higher education” till November 30, 2022.

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Sarkar clarified that, while the Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Home Ministry, maintains the departure and arrival data of Indians, there is no index for capturing the category of Indians going abroad for the purpose of higher education.

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“Purpose of Indians going abroad for higher education is captured manually based either on their verbal disclosure or the type of visa of the destination country produced by them at the time of immigration clearance,” he added. Through this method, the government could capture that in 2021, 4,44,553 Indian students had gone abroad for higher education.

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According to past data, the numbers have steadily risen over the years. In 2017, the number of students who went overseas for higher studies was 4,54,009; 5,17,998 in 2018; 5,86,337 in 2019. In 2020, it dipped to 2,59,655 due to the pandemic.

According to the US, it issued 82,000 student visas between June and August this year — the highest among all the countries. The latest UK immigration statistics released in August showed that India now accounts for the largest share of study visas issued by the country, overtaking China.

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