Visakhapatnam: Contrary to a staggering 2 lakh Indian students leaving for foreign shores each year, the inflow of foreign students into India has been on the decline with each passing year, particularly to Andhra Pradesh.
The recent All-India Survey on Higher Education once again underscored the poor response from aspirants seeking Indian education. According to the survey, in 2014-15 academic year, 42,293 nationals from 164 countries came to India for education.
Of them, only 1,207 students took admissions at various universities and colleges of Andhra Pradesh, which was way lesser than Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, etc.
The number of foreign students in Karnataka was 13,956, and, in Tamil Nadu 5,698. Maharashtra witnessed admissions of about 5,135 students. About 3,000 foreign students joined institutions in Telangana in 2014.
The number has gone further down to about 35,000 in 2015-16. Lack of established premier institutions and infrastructure is said to be the reasons for the lukewarm response from foreign students.
Dr T. Sharon Raju of Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Andhra University, said lack of infrastructure at par with global institutions has been a discouraging factor for the institutions of the state.
“Our investment in the research sector at the universities was a fraction compared to other emerging economies. Our faculty was starved of international exposure as only a few get the chance to go abroad on fellowships. The faculty of the varsities and colleges should update their profile at regular intervals on the respective institution’s website to capture the attention of foreign nationals. The International Affairs’ wing of varsities should also aggressively promote their credentials, achievements and international rankings with the foreign embassies. Varsities introducing a single-window system for foreign students and showing more concern towards their welfare would also go a long way in attracting more foreign students,” he added.
Neighbouring countries constituted the highest share of students, with Nepal (21 per cent) leading the count, followed by Afghanistan (9 per cent), Bhutan (6 per cent) and Malaysia and Sudan (5 per cent each). About 4,478 foreign students opted for B.Tech courses and 3,450 students chose B.A. programmes, followed by BBA (2,800), B.Pharm (2,683) and B.Sc (2,623).
But Andhra varsity shows the way
Andhra University has been the face-saver of the state with over 450 foreign students in the campus. The varsity sees about 200-250 foreign student admissions each year. The foreign students are provided accommodation at four hostels at AU, including the recently-inaugurated ‘green building’ in the campus.
AU vice-chancellor Prof. G. Nageswara Rao said they were extending the best possible hospitality and quality education to the foreign students. “Andhra University has about 400 students from 10 countries and we hope the number would grow in the coming days,” he said.
Dean, International Affairs, Andhra University, Dr B. Mohan Venkata Ram, gave a detailed account of growing numbers of foreign students and their origin. “Majority of AU’s foreign students come from Ethiopia, Nepal, Afghani-stan and African countries. We make sure of making them feel Andhra University a second home. If there is any issue, we address it on a priority basis,” he said.
