Outward Student Migration in India

By Colleen O'Connor and Elena Thompson

India: General Background Information

India is the 7th largest country in the world by area, at 3,287,263 square kilometers, however it is the second largest country in the world in terms of population, with 1,266,883,598 people. The makeup of the population is 72% Indo- Aryan, 25% Dravidian, and 3% Mongoloid. India is a very linguistically diverse country, with Hindi being spoken by 42% of the population, Bengali being spoken by 8% of the population, Telugu being spoken by 7.2% of the population, Marathi being spoken by 7% of the population, as well as Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya and Punjabi. The majority of the population is Hindu or Muslim. The Indian government system is a federal parliamentary republic, modeled off of the British parliament. Indian culture and government has been highly influenced by the British as they were under their rule from the 16th Century to the 20th Century. However, after years of nonviolent rule, the Indian people, led by Gandhi and Nehru, were able to gain independence in 1947. The effects of imperialism have continued to this day, with 1 in 5 Indians living under the poverty line. India had been exploited by Britain for hundreds of years, with the Indian economy fully reliant on British-controlled imports and exports. When the British government removed itself from India, they did not offer support in the transition. The entire governing body in India was gone within 7 months. The new Indian government had to entirely rebuild its infrastructure and economy. They never fully recovered.

India's System of Education: Background

The system of education in India is divided into three sections: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education. In 2009, the Indian Parliament legally deemed free and compulsory education a fundamental right for all children ages 6-14 under the Right To Education Act (RTE), so all children in India now go to school for primary education. Primary education ranges from 1^st grade to 8^th grade and is split between primary (1^st to 5^th grade) and upper primary (6^th to 8^th grade). After upper primary, the drop out rate is very high for students in India with a low socioeconomic status. Many of these students who drop out often go on to work for and/or with their parents at this point. For students who do stay in school, the next level of education is Secondary education. Secondary education is broken up into Secondary (9^th to 10^th grade) and Senior Secondary (11^th to 13^th grade). After Secondary education, students who still attend school must chose between Higher Education or Vocational Education and Training. For those who choose Higher Education, there are more than 611 universities and over 30,000 colleges in the country to choose from. They also have the option between general education and professional education. General education is similar to a liberal arts degree, as it is a degree in science or commerce arts. The other option for Higher Education is the option to pursue professional education that includes Architecture, Medicine and Engineering. For students who choose to pursue Vocational Education rather than Higher Education, they can choose between traditional vocational studies (a focus on IT) or new and emerging fields such as travel and tourism. The entire system is broken down visually on the graph posted below. 

Tertiary education system in India (Ernst & Young et al.)

India's Colleges & Universities 

Although there is a well-structured system and students in India are provided with a multitude of options for education, the higher education school system in India continues to fail it's population. Out of all of the college graduates in India every year, it is reported that only 10% of graduates are directly employable and 25% of engineering students are directly employable after college. Although India's colleges' and universities are failing, the students in India seeking a quality higher education have the option of migrating to another country and attending school elsewhere.

Photos: The failing system of education in India is constantly up for public debate and receives a lot of mainstream media coverage. (Photos from Youtube)

Student Mobility and Outward Migration

Student mobility describes the act of students studying somewhere away from home. Mobility can be temporary, for example, study abroad or summer programs. Mobility can also be long-term in the case of obtaining a student visa to complete a degree program in a college outside of a student's home country. Outward Migration describes this long term type of student mobility. 

Photos: India's Outward Migration also gets a lot of media attention as it holds high public interest. (Photos from Youtube)

India's Outward Migration

India is the second largest source of international students in the world, second only to China. Approximately 360,100 Indians currently study overseas. The majority of these students go to the United States and the United Kingdom for college. In the United States, India is the leading source of foreign students, with 15% of all international college students admitted to US colleges from India. However, applications from India to American colleges have begun to steadily drop since 2008. Unlike in the United States, where Indian applications have been going down, applications in the UK are rising. This is very likely due to strict American student visa policies in the wake of 9/11. Many of the prospective American university students instead now go to the UK. Indians currently make up approximately 10% of the International University student population in the UK. Outward Student Migration is primarily powered by a lack of places in top Indian universities and a rising purchasing power among the Indian middle class, which has increased the affordability of foreign universities. Many Indian educational programs are highly supportive of opening up new high class universities in India, however strict government policies don’t allow for it. Many politicians in the Indian government are against the idea of foreign universities educating their youth. However, if something is not done to stop the outward migration, the brain drain will continue.

Video: "The Big Debate: Education in India vs. Education Abroad"