A pinching paradox

Even though India has become the fifth largest economy in the world and is rapidly moving towards becoming the fourth largest, there are not enough options and opportunities available in the country to get quality higher education, nor is there a sound education system at the lower level. Additionally, employment matching qualifications is not available in the country. At the same time, basic facilities like roads, electricity, pure drinking water, and basic health services are lacking, leading to the migration of youth from India.

Since independence, many reforms have been made in the field of education, leading to significant improvements in employment, research, and literacy rates. Today, there are more than 1,000 universities and 42,000 colleges across the country providing higher education, but they still lack adequate capital, skilled teachers, and infrastructure. However, there has been a significant increase in research work in recent years. For example, there was a 54 per cent increase in research work from 2017 to 2022.

Currently, only 13 per cent of students pursue higher education in India, whereas internationally this percentage ranges from 28 to 90. According to the Worldwide Education for the Future Index, India was ranked 33rd in the world in terms of providing quality education in 2020, compared to 35th in 2019 and 40th in 2018. This is not an encouraging ranking.

No college or university from India occupies the top 10 position in the world. According to the University Rankings 2024, announced by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad is among the top 25 management institutes in the world in the Business and Management category, while the Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru and Kolkata are among the top 50 business management institutes in the world. In the university category, Jawaharlal Nehru University is one of the top 20 universities in the world. The Savita Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences in Chennai is ranked 24th in the world in the dentistry category.

Despite continuous improvements in the higher education sector in India, QS’s CEO Jessica Turner believes that the biggest challenge India faces is providing quality education to students, which can be achieved by providing infrastructure, skilled teachers, and capital.

Due to the large number of students pursuing education abroad, there is a flow of capital from India to foreign countries and a concurrent migration of talent. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, by January 2023, 15 lakh Indian students were studying abroad, while in 2022, this number was 13 lakh, and in 2024, it is likely to reach 24 lakh. From 2020 to 2021, the number of students pursuing education abroad increased by 50 per cent. More children from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India are going to study abroad due to the social status symbol and the desire to live abroad. Only 20 per cent of the students studying abroad want to return to India after completing their studies, while 80 per cent want to settle there. Some youth are taking admission in “B” and “C” category educational institutions just to live abroad and are not hesitating to do small jobs.

To change this situation, branches of foreign universities have been opened in India so Indian students can stay in India and receive education from renowned universities abroad. However, Indian students are not taking much interest in these institutions because their priority is to settle abroad rather than merely get an education from a foreign institute.

Among the students studying abroad, 35 per cent are getting their education in the USA. Today, 1 out of every 4 students in the USA’s educational institutions is of Indian origin. In 2024, these students are expected to spend 75 to 85 billion dollars abroad. According to the Reserve Bank of India, Rs 5 billion was spent in foreign exchange in the financial year 2021-22. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, students studying abroad had spent USD 24 billion in foreign countries, which was 1 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP). This amount is expected to increase to USD 80 billion in 2024. If Indian students had not gone to study abroad, then the foreign currency could have been used to meet the needs of imports, economic activities in the country would have accelerated, the economy would have strengthened, the education system of the country would have been fortified, and the country's talent would have been utilised in the country.

According to statistics, after China, India has the highest number of students going abroad to study. Indian students are going to countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, England, France, Germany, the USA, etc., to obtain degrees and diplomas in higher education fields such as medical, engineering, and business management.

Indian students have been going to countries like Russia, China, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines for almost three decades to obtain medical degrees because, due to the limited number of medical seats in India, medical education here is very expensive. According to the National Medical Commission, there were only 596 medical colleges across the country in the financial year 2021-22, with a total of only 88,120 medical seats. However, there are few examples of people going abroad to study engineering.

For many years, Indian students studying abroad have been facing murder and discrimination, but after the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, there is more concern about the safety of students studying abroad. During this period, thousands of students in many countries became victims of the pandemic. At the same time, during the pandemic, the Australian government also closed the country's borders to Indian students due to safety concerns.

Additionally, due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, more than 20,000 students were stranded in Ukraine in the early stages of the war. Even a few months ago, hundreds of Indian students were affected due to the closure of some colleges in Canada. Recently, some Indian students were attacked in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. In February 2024, Amarnath Ghosh, a student of Washington University in St. Louis, USA, was murdered. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, more than 400 students studying abroad have died since 2018; some of these were natural deaths, and some were murders. The highest number of student deaths have occurred in Canada.

The government should increase the number of international treaties to address the murders or deadly attacks on Indian students abroad, as well as racial remarks or discrimination. The number of seats in government medical and engineering colleges should be increased. A student insurance scheme should be started. Additionally, there is a need for improvement at the grassroots level and greater investment in the field of education, promotion of innovation and research, better employment opportunities in the country, ease of doing business, good governance, and making the system transparent at every level.

Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj once called Indian students studying abroad brand ambassadors of the country, but today the lives of these Indian students are in danger. Therefore, corrective steps need to be taken by the government.

Views expressed are personal