Trend to opt for Hindi by foreign students grows in DU

Trends this year show a surge in the number applicants of Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and increasing interest of foreign nationals in Hindi along with a dip in applicants from the war-torn countries likes Palestine and Syria. Out of the total 3,368 candidates who had applied, close to 580 have taken admission.

The university on September 22 will hold the orientation programme to welcome the students of various nationalities. The event will also showcase cultural performances from students and will be attended by the Dean of Colleges Devesh K Sinha and the Registrar Tarun Das.

Interestingly, among the 580, around 25 students are PIOs. “This year, there is a surge in the numbers of applicants from the Indian diaspora community.

 Most of these students are from developed countries such as the USA, Canada, France, Britain, Spain and others. What I have noticed is that these students have come here to learn and live the culture and history of the country of their ancestors. To an extent, their presence in the campus can also be attributed to efforts of the government to reach out to the Indian diaspora,” said Amrit Kaur, deputy dean of foreign students.

“In the Faculty of Law, two Americans, one Canadian and one British national of Indian-origin have taken admission this year. Another Indian-origin British citizen has enrolled in MA in Italian,” added Kaur.

Besides, this year saw an increasing interest in Hindi among foreign students. “Many foreign students are coming to learn Hindi literature. A UAE national has taken admission in BA (Hons) Hindi in Kirori Mal College. Two students from Mongolia have enrolled in Miranda House for the same course,” added Kaur. 

Certificate and diploma courses in Hindi have been popular among foreign students for the past few years already.

According to university officials, there was a dip in the numbers of applicants from the war-ravaged countries like Syria, Yemen and Palestine. It is notable that the University used to attract good number of students from these countries and to an extent from Iraq and Iran. As usual, most of the applicants are from Nepal, Tibet and Afghanistan.

“I chose to return from Nigeria for my PhD in Law because of the quality of research and faculty members in DU. I was attracted because of the consistency of the academic calendar and relatively lower cost of research when compared to my home country,” said Yucee Okoronkwo, who had completed LLM from DU in 2014.

The university provides five per cent quota for foreign nationals in each course.