Number of students going to UK universities from India has gone down by 50 per cent in the last five years. The reasons behind this are stringent visa norms and strict rules on post study work permit.
With British Prime Minister Theresa May currently in India, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during bilateral discussions slated for Monday will raise the issue of stringent new British laws that have affected students pursuing studies in the UK.
According to Indian government's own data, the number of students going to UK universities from India has gone down by 50 per cent in the last five years. The reasons behind this are stringent visa norms and strict rules on post study work permit.
"It is true that in the last five years or so, the number of Indian students enrolling in UK Universities have gone down by almost 50 percent. From around 40,000 students earlier to about 20,000 now. This has happened because of restrictions on post-study stay in the UK," official Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swaroop told DNA.
"Indian students and people to people relations are important pillars of India-UK ties. We have raised our concerns on the difficulties being faced by Indian students with the UK side. We expect mobility issues to be raised during the visit," he said.
Even as the numbers have reduced, the country still remains the topmost choice for students to pursue higher education and they want that something positive should come out from the conversation.
"I am trying to go abroad for higher studies and UK universities are obviously my first choice but it is getting difficult due to strict visa norms. As a student I am hoping that something positive comes out of these talks," said Vaibhavi Nath, a student looking for a masters course abroad.
As per education consultants, the other options that the students are choosing include Canada, Australia and European countries like Germany and Ireland. However, they agree that UK is still the most preferred destination for students.
"The students who are looking for just a degree are still going to the UK but those who want to stay back and work are opting for other countries like Canada, Australia and Ireland," says Mrinal Singh, a private education consultant in Delhi.
She added that when it comes to students seeking admission in topmost educational institutions UK is still getting a lot of students but in the middle range of institutions, the number has gone down drastically. "The UK government should realise that they are losing out on a lot of revenue also when students do not come to mid-level universities. The revenue that they are losing here is much more than what they are earning from the topmost institutions like Oxford and Cambridge because the number in these institutions is very less," she added.
"The strict norms are doing harm to both students and the government in terms of revenue. We hope that something positive works out," said another education consultant based in Delhi.
The British Prime Minister Theresa May along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the India-UK Tech Summit in New Delhi on Monday. The summit is being organised by the Department of Science and Technology and CII. India-UK Higher Education Summit, to discuss the declining numbers of students is also a part of the summit.
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