A report on immigration released by the UK has shown that Indian students have now become the largest group of foreign students in the country, surpassing the Chinese.
According to the Immigration Statistics Report, 127,731 visas were granted to Indian students in September 2022, an increase of 93,470 (+273 per cent) against 34,261 in 2019. However, 116,476 visas were granted to those from China, 2 per cent lower than the number seen in 2019 (119,231).
Similarly, in the US, the number of Indian students has more than doubled, and the Open Doors Report 2022 has predicted that the number of Indian students heading to America is likely to surpass those from China in 2022-23.
The rise in the number of Indian students and the decline in that of Chinese nationals in the US and the UK might be because of Covid-19 among others, some experts believe. When compared to pre-pandemic levels, the number of student visas granted to Chinese citizens in the first half of 2022 decreased by more than 50 per cent. Many aspiring Chinese students have had to reevaluate their plans to pursue higher education in the US and UK due to pandemic-related visa delays, unfavourable political policies, and increased global competitiveness
Even data from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) has shown the number of Chinese students in Australia has been dropping for the past five years.
Shankar Subbanarasayya Mantha, former chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), also agrees Covid-19 could be a reason, however, it is not the only one. “The pandemic has certainly put some breaks on the movement. In China, the Covid after effects have never really died down, so that is one reason,” he said.
Bill Rammell, the UK’s former education minister, said the decline in the number of Chinese nationals coming to the UK to study might be because of “the overall Chinese government policies regarding international organisations”. “I think there is more of a meeting of minds between India and the UK about studying internationally,” he said.
Echoing similar views as Rammell, Mantha said the Chinese government is now promoting its local institutions and facilities. “China is now following the ‘look China policy’ in which they are promoting their own institutions and facilities, with the aim of motivating the young talent to stay back in the country and conduct research and development for their home country, rather than abroad,” he explained.
While there has been a decline in the number of nationals, “the vacancies have not decreased, and so Indians fill this gap, resulting in an increase in the number of Indian students abroad,” he added.
Mantha also said Indian students have an upper hand as compared to Chinese nationals when it comes to getting jobs in western countries due to better communication skills.
The former AICTE chief said another probable reason behind this decline could be that Chinese nationals are not trusted with research or data-based jobs now due to concerns about a data breach. “A lot of universities in the US, the UK etc are connected to real-time research industries. In this space, the Chinese students participating in the active research that happens, which connects to society and niche areas, are not much preferred. Indian students are trusted due to security issues. There are fears regarding letting the research go out,” he said.
Read more at:https://indianexpress.com/article/education/study-abroad/why-are-more-indian-students-than-chinese-going-to-us-uk-8314179/
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