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India’s ambitious target to enroll five lakh foreign students in higher education by 2047 has made several private institutions in Delhi-NCR upbeat.
The big stride
NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam announced the target at the 18th FICCI Higher Education Summit held recently.
“The private sector must further expand the higher education ecosystem in the country and ensure more international students are attracted to India along with encouraging domestic students also to study in India,” he said at the Summit.
NITI Aayog, he said, is also preparing a vision document for 2047 and education has a separate role in it.
‘One of the important points in this include that by 2047 we aim to target half a million foreign students in India. We should become the global provider of education by improving our quality, brand value and improve our rankings which are globally recognised,” he added.
The reactions
Dr Soumya Madan, the CEO of Interactive Learning Studio in Gurgaon, says they run a counselling unit for Indian students willing to go for higher education overseas and foreign students keen on pursuing higher studies in this country.
“Students from many neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and countries in Africa look for higher studies opportunities in India. Some do get admission while many others opt out because of several factors, including visa difficulties and lack of response from state universities,” he says.
In fact, the CEO says, that India’s ambitious target to enroll five lakh foreign students in higher education by 2047 will definitely pave the way for removal of obstacles. “We have already been in touch with private universities like GD Goenka University, Ansal University and Gautam Buddh University in Delhi-NCR,” he adds.
AK Sharma of GD Goenka University says that they are also upbeat about the announcement of the target. “Our doors are open for foreign students. With each year to come, we will increase the number of seats with approval from the authorities concerned. It’s definitely good news,” he says.
Gautam Buddh University officials say that also admit a certain number of foreign students every year. “Lots of students from Africa pursue higher education in India. We are seriously keen on increasing the seats for foreign students in our university over the next couple of years to accommodate more students,” says a senior official of the university.
