Brain drain or India8217;s Gain?

Ask Sourabh who has a Bachelor8217;s in Engineering. She wants to do Master8217;s in Science from a US university. She says what she can8217;t get here she will definitely have there: facilities. She would also like to work there for three or four years. So has Paramdeep Singh, a B.Com. final year student who is also doing a part time course in hardware and networking. He wants to pursue higher studies in networking.

8220;Since I am lucky enough to have relatives there, I can afford to pursue my course there,8221; he says. Certainly, as it would mean financial security to him. He also intends to settle there permanently. 8220;The system in India is not good. This country has corruption, right from the grassroots to the top,8221; he reasons. Quiet a disillusionment!

But Vaibhav Gaur will be coming back after completing advanced course in computer application and working there for a couple of years. He wants to be in the US just to have a global experience in his field. 8220;My field is more developed there, so I will get a lot to learn,8221;says he.

Gurmeet, a Bachelor of Engineering, feels a degree from a US university coupled with work experience over there will tremendously brighten his employment chances back home. Of course, not to mention the craze that he has for being called a 8220;US-return.8221;

It is good life and money in the US which beckon Anubha, aspiring to pursue an advanced course in management. 8220;Besides, the post graduate courses in management are not so good in India,8221; she says. This despite the fact that Indian managers are accredited as the best in the world!

And when we are talking about students aspiring to go to the US, it is not a handful of them. In fact, according to a report titled Open Doors, an annual study on international educational exchange issued by the Institute of International Education, a staggering 3,11,000 Indian students have gone to the US for higher studies during the last decade. This makes India one of the leading countries of origin for foreign students in the US.

In the academic year 1997-98 alone, nearly 34,000 Indian students went to the US out of a total of about 480,000 foreign students. India came fourth in international student enrollment in the US this academic year, following Japan 47,073, China 46,958 and Korea 42,890. Asian students constituted more than 50 per cent of foreign admissions. Although American universities and colleges remain the first choice of international students worldwide, recent trends show that the US share of international students has dropped to 30 per cent, down from 40 per cent in the 1980s.

On the contrary, the British educational institutions have seen a substantial growth in their intake of Indian students. The British High Commission issued 3,925 student visas in 1994. In 1997, this number went up to 4,775.

The reasons for the increased popularity are not hard to find. Amrita Singh, who aspires to do masters in marketing, prefers the British universities. 8220;The post-graduate courses over there are of just one year duration. The teacher-and-the taught8217; interaction is much better there,8221; she says. And she should know it better as she has been to the UK quite a few times.

Siddhartha Arora wants to study Economics in a British university. It is the practical approach to teaching there which attracts him to pursue advanced study there. And now, the traffic these days is turning to Australia. While in 1996, 2,400 students went to Australia for studying, the number has gone to 4,800 in 1998, according to Henry A. S. Ledlie, Country Manager India, IDP Education Australia.

The reason why Pranav Dutt wants to go to Australia may sound comic but it has very serious overtones. He wishes to go to Australia for doing Bachelor8217;s in Engineering, as he lost a seat in a reputed Indian university for not fulfilling the domicile preconditions for the course. While Nitin Khanna, who wants to do Master8217;s in Computer Application in Australia, feels that there is more stress on theoretical knowledge here and normally 8220;10 students work on one computer.8221; Also, he complains about the preponderance of strikes at the Indian educational institutions.

But, it is not just students who are leaving no stone unturned to go abroad. Many parents are more keen to pack them off than they themselves are. Brig. B.D. Mishra wants to send her daughter Kanika Mishra, a Bachelor in Homeopathy, to Australia, basically for two reasons 8212; limited scope of higher study in medicine in India and less weightage to merit. 8220;For one, the Indian educational system is becoming more and more commercial and the rest of the things are spoilt by its politicisation,8221; adds he.

Whatever the reason for their exit, if they decide to come back, India will only stand to gain from their international exposure. But, in case they decide to settle down there, it can only be called India8217;s loss.