Education Abroad: China; Not In The Preference List For Students
The Year started with border tensions, many Indian students canceled plans to study in China and are looking at alternative opportunities in the Eastern Europe, Africa, and Central Asia or Post Soviet Countries, while some are waiting for it. More than 23,000 Indian students studied in China before the Covid-19 outbreak, mainly studying according to experts and official data. Indians have been China’s fourth-largest contingent among foreign students. Covid-19 has derailed many Indians’ plans to study in China and the recent geopolitical developments between the two countries can only push China further down as a destination for students.
According to educational startups Collegedekho, Collegify, MEDSTUDIES, and Yocket, students have started canceling their plans, or are considering the choice, which helps students find colleges outside India. “Alternatively, they look to destinations in the Eastern Europe like Armenia & Ukraine, Central Asia like Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan, and the Asia-Pacific like Philippines & Malaysia” Medstudies co-founder Dr. Amrit Das said. “It is unlikely that there would be many takers for Chinese colleges considering the current scenario. Already, many had canceled their plans due to Covid-19 and now the tension at the border may further impact the decisions,” said Sumeet Jain, cofounder of Yocket. “As of today, the sentiments are negative. And students have much better options,” said Jain. Approximately 80-90 percent of Indian students study medicine in China. According to Dr. Amrit Das, co-founder of MEDSTUDIES, a consultancy based in Delhi, Kolkata is popular among medical students because the fees Rs 25 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for the entire course is affordable. According to Dr. Das, the US, Canada, and Australia are Indian students’ top overseas destinations, and China is ranked sixth. Anubhav Raghav, who works with an Indian-based Chinese ed-tech firm, had studied Mandarin intending to pursue an MBA at a Chinese institute but has for now canceled his plan. Shaurya Gupta from Ahmedabad had even partially paid for an MBA at the International Business School of China Europe. “Due to the current scenario, I have canceled the plan to pursue higher studies in China despite paying up the first installment,” said Gupta. Also, Hong Kong, where riots had occurred before Covid-19, could not draw international students to its colleges because of the influence of China, the experts said. Raghav also paid for a Hong Kong college, but the plan was scrapped. Sandeep Sharma, an engineer with over three years of experience who enrolled at MEDSTUDIES, said that because of Covid-19 and the diplomatic tension he did not apply to business schools in China. Another student with a consulting background who did not wish to be identified applied to business schools in Europe rather than China as originally planned and will start his MBA this fall, Dr. Das said. “Border tensions will be a final blow to Indian students who were evaluating plans to join colleges in China. Many had already canceled their plans to join foreign institutes, including those in China, due to the COVID scare,” said Shalini S Sharma, principal – education & innovation at the Confederation of Indian Industry. “China attracts more foreign students in comparison to India, but this year this number may come down for China as well.”In 2018 492,185 foreign students from 196 countries/areas pursued their studies at 1,004 China higher education institutions. India was at No. 4 with 23,198 students, behind South Korea with 50,600 students, Thailand with 28,608 students, and Pakistan with 28,023 students, according to
