PM steps in, panel ready with report to help foreign students

After rounds of marathon meetings and discussions with stakeholders across six cities identified as major educational hubs, the committee is expected to submit its final report in another two weeks.

The Indian Express has learnt that the report will suggest a series of measures starting from the visa application process to issues like scholarships, possibility of a uniform fee structure for Indian and foreign students, making it easier to open bank accounts, assisting with bettering English language skills, and making universities nodal authorities for foreign students.

“The committee is mandated to introduce a better regimen for the welfare of the foreign student in India. Assessments show that nearly 50,000 foreign students and researchers are studying in India and most of them come from South Asia, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East and study on a self-financed basis. As of now there is no coordinated assessment of exactly what kind of framework should be there for foreign students in India and with their numbers having risen six times in the last five years, it is felt by the Prime Minister that there is an urgent need to address these issues, so the committee,” Varma said.

The Indian Express had highlighted how foreign researchers applying in India were kept for waiting for months together owing to the red tapism in the HRD Ministry. Varma said a whole gamut of issues related to foreign students had been assessed and the recommendations will be far reaching.

“India is perceived as an emerging educational hub, particularly for technological and management education. The lower price of quality education here is also an incentive for foreign students and the numbers of those applying are increasing every year. But then there are problems like differential fee structures, student from various countries facing language barriers due to lack of proficiency in English and problems like opening of bank accounts etc. Having got all concerned agencies on board we have now a good understanding of the problems they face and we are now devising ways to ensure a better academic and administrative environment for them, commensurate with the very valid security concerns as well,” added Varma.

The committee’s recommendations are expected to lead to considerable changes in internal regulations to facilitate the whole process of foreign students seeking admission in Indian educational institutes.

The six educational hubs that attract the maximum number of foreign students are Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Banaglore, Mysore and Chennai and the committee has already visited all. Officials from the HRD Ministry, Home Ministry, Department of Science & Technology and the Finance Ministries are part of the committee. They have been meeting vice-chancellors, international students and their representative bodies, local authorities like the state’s Home Department, police commissioners, banking sector representatives and Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office office.