The Institute for Foreign Studies (IFS) is an overseas educational consultants dedicated towards providing services to Indian students in making educational avenues abroad accessible to them.
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Indian Colleges Can Get Foreign Tie-ups but Must Send Students Abroad
Source: Hindustan Times
Indian universities and colleges will be allowed to collaborate with foreign institutions but they must let students study abroad for at least one semester of their postgraduate course and two semesters for an undergraduate degree.
These are part of changed guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC), which are viewed as the government’s push to broaden the scope and quality of education in the country as well as encourage healthy competition.
Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani announced on Wednesday the changes made by the country’s higher education regulator.
“This step has been taken … to increase synergy between Indian and foreign academic institutions to offer students additional choices, improve curriculum and the delivery of knowledge and educational content,” she said.
The degree from such a twinning arrangement will be issued by the Indian institution but the certificate will mention the name of the foreign institute, Irani said. A joint degree is still not permitted in India.
Previous rules barred Indian institutions from directly applying for a tie-up with a foreign university. But foreign institutes from abroad could seek permission from the UGC for academic collaborations.
The rule fell flat as no foreign institute ever approached the UGC for such tie-ups. Also, there was no provision for students to study abroad for a few semesters.
For the full article, visit the Hindustan Times.
Indian State Funds Study Abroad for Minority Students
Source: The PIE News
India’s Telangana state government has approved the first round of scholarships funding 258 low-income students to study abroad at postgraduate level, it has announced.
Earlier this year the Minorities Welfare Department for the southern Indian state announced that it was allocating INR25 crore (US$3.8m) to the new Chief Minister’s Overseas Study Scheme.
It will enable 500 students from low-income families to study abroad each year, with a third of the available places earmarked for women.
In order to apply, students must be no older than 35 and they or their guardians must have a total annual income of no more than Rs. 2 lakhs (US$3,000).
For more details, read the full story on The PIE News.
256% rise in Indian students going abroad in 10 years, study says
Source: Times of India via India Newswatch
Campuses in the West have for long been wooing young Indians, with education fairs, road shows and special admission campaigns nudging thousands to pick up brochures that give a peek into college life in Europe. While studying in Oxbridge still remains the highest academic aspiration among the youth here, between 2000 and 2009, the number of Indian students in foreign countries has grown by 256% or three-and-a-half times.
Going by the findings of a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, the profile of the internationally mobile Indian students is changing. Traditionally, north Indians flocked to Europe for higher education, but increasingly, students from Gujarat as well as the southern states are making a beeline for institutes in those countries, with one in every two Indians studying in the UK being a woman. And when it comes to scholarships and grants, most of them are bagged by students from southern India, shows the study, ‘Indian student mobility to selected European countries: An Overview’.
The paper is part of a research project financed by the European Union (EU) and carried out by Rupa Chanda and Shahana Mukherjee at IIM-B, researchers at the European University Institute, Indian Council of Overseas Employment, and Maastricht University (Faculty of Law). One-year Master’s programmes in business and management have been the most popular field, but many engineering and mathematics and computer science aspirants also head for Europe. “But healthcare, English and linguistics are not gaining popularity,” notes the study.
According to the study, there has been a steady annual rise of 7% Indians travelling overseas for a degree. More than 53,000 Indians went abroad in 2000 and at the end of the decade, the count shot up to 1.9 lakh. While the US has been steady in the top slot of having most number of Indian students, education magnet UK has been a close second. However, the interest in the US seems to have slipped, albeit slightly, as other countries like Australia hard sell their universities. The US’s loss also seems to be adding up to Europe’s gain. Across the globe, the UK attracts the second largest contingent of international students and since 2009, about 17% Indian students have been visiting there annually; after all, Indians comprise the second largest group of international students in the UK.
Between 2000 and 2009, the count of Indian students in Europe has increased from 3,348 to 51,556, with the UK separately logging a rise from 3,962 to 36,105. But across Europe, Germany and France get most of
remaining Indian students. “Indian students are now also exploring other countries such as Sweden, Italy and Ireland, where education is considerably cheaper and part-time jobs are easier to secure,” said the researchers.
TCS Insights: The US and UK have traditionally been the most preferred destinations for Indian students, however increasing awareness of Canadian education is making Canada an ever more attractive choice. Canadian institutions that desire to recruit in India have an array of promotional activities available to them. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service education team for India is undertaking new innovations for promotion, including third party events and webinars for schools.