Race to the door

Student migration has seen a sharp increase in recent years because of better options abroad and the increased availability of loans. But, the number of traps, too, has shot up

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

Do you dream of studying in Moldova? Er... not really. 

What about Afghanistan, Mozambique or Somalia? Eh? No, not at all.

That seems about right. Except, it is not.

According to data shared by the ministry of external affairs in Parliament in August 2022, Indians who travelled abroad for education between 2019 and 2022 ended up in 228 countries/dependent islands. While a majority of students from India continue to go to the developed world, a few of them are even going to countries that are less developed than India, like Afghanistan (at least 60), Mozambique (15) and Somalia (one) in Africa, and Nauru (seven), an island country in Oceania.

Why? According to D. Dhanuraj, chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research, such choices reflect the “anxiety” of an aspirational generation. “They feel that educated Indians in less developed countries have an advantage,” he says. “There is less competition and if they stay on after their studies, they can build successful businesses and make good money. We hear many such stories, especially from African countries.”

Another reason for choosing smaller countries is the fee. Mohammed Abdul Raheem, who is studying medicine in Moldova (one of Europe’s poorest countries), says the tuition fee he has to pay over six years at the Nicolae Testemiţanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the country’s only staterun medical university, is less than the fees charged by private universities in India. This is not indicative of low standards, says Joe Sharon, another student at the university.

“The government places great emphasis on developing and upgrading infrastructure and facilities,” he says. Indian students now occupy more than 40 per cent of the seats at Nicolae Testemiţanu State.