Kerala students westward bound

The annual exodus of Indian students to Western countries is now like a yearly religious pilgrimage. Indians now study in more than 240 countries globally, and the UK, US, Australia, and Canada remain the hot favourite destinations. Presently, more than 2,00,000 Indian students are studying at U.S. academic institutions, representing more than 20 percent of international students currently in the United States. In 2022, a record-breaking 1,25,000 Indians were issued student visas, which was the maximum issued to any nationality. The US visa rate for Indian students is about 95% and this is by far the highest over the past many years. The average cost of tuition fee for a student at a four-year private university is approximately $32,405 per year. Living expenses are separate.

Similarly, the UK at the end of March 2023, issued 1,38,532 study visas to Indian students. A student ends up paying around £9,250 per year, only as tuition fees. For prestigious courses, the fees can go up to a mind-boggling £38000. Over 2,30,000 students from India are enrolled in post-secondary institutions in Canada and pay an estimated 4 billion Canadian dollars in tuition fees.

From the above, it becomes quite apparent that for all Western nations, education is a big booming industry, not affected by any kind of market fluctuations. Just by providing quality education, a congenial academic environment, and sylvan surroundings, not only the educational institutions but also associated institutions like housing, travel, books and stationery, supermarkets, restaurants, and entertainment, are immensely getting benefited. The textbook industry is now a billion-dollar enterprise in almost all Western countries. Many startups have developed businesses of renting out textbooks to students. Renting college textbooks is now cheaper than buying and then reselling used books. Key trends in the education industry are the rapidly expanding field of augmented reality and virtual reality. This technology allows users to experience the exact conditions they would in a real-world setting, which is creating a big transformation in teaching and learning. Technology is being used to deliver educational materials and courses. Teachers and instructors are now able to lecture, give assignments, and conduct tests through the internet. Technology is also providing the means and infrastructure for administering and delivering education services on an international level. Success in the education industry is getting determined by the usage of information technology. 

Students in India are also receiving lavish educational loans, grants, and scholarships, running into lakhs of rupees for acquiring a Western university degree. Western educational institutions also obtain financing for projects and curriculum development from their governments. Corporates too provide funds to universities in exchange for a skilled workforce and research projects undertaken by the universities. Such an environment does not exist in most Indian universities. 

Developing nations like India are spending a fortune on student loans, to educate their youth for a global career. Though India has one of the largest networks of higher education systems in the world, with about 45,000-degree colleges, over 1000 universities, 450 medical colleges, and around 1500 top institutions, still there is an exodus of brilliant and even average students to Western countries. Most are highly unlikely to return, preferring to work in foreign countries, and ultimately preferring to acquire foreign citizenship, marking their ultimate divorce from their motherland.

To obtain reasons for the above, we just have to consider the educational environment in our country. Take for example the state of Kerala, which sees a substantial outflow of students to not only many foreign countries but also to many other States. To put it bluntly, parents and their wards seek educational pastures outside of Kerala. Why is this so? Why have we made our educational institutions into cesspools of political rivalry and feud? Not a day passes without the media reporting student agitations, fake appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff, fake certificates being sold with assistance by college principals and teachers, and university staff! On top of it, appointments of vice-chancellors are a constant bone of contention between the Governor and the State Government, and the bureaucracy. The judiciary is being approached too often to iron out the conflicts erupting constantly on our educational campuses.

Consider the duplicity of our politicians, they never let their children wallow in the dirty politics that they foment on our educational campuses, rather they are sent to Western universities to learn and acquire foreign degrees. Some have joined the coveted civil services, yet others have been made to safely ensconce themselves in money laundering havens like Dubai. The common students who cannot afford an expensive Western college education, nor any costly education in metro cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai, have to contend with studying in the politically surcharged atmosphere prevailing in Kerala educational campuses. The vice-chancellor, the syndicate, principals, professors, and lecturers are all politically aligned with some party or the other. The ideological differences, and the fiery student elections, often peppered with violence, all vitiate the educational atmosphere. Western educational campuses, though devoid of politics, has with the influx of Indian students, become platforms for anti-India activities and propaganda. Unfortunately, the New Education Policy (NEP) has not addressed the problem of politicisation of educational campuses. If we have ambitious plans for making India a great global destination for education, we need to ensure zero politics on campuses.

The thousands leaving the state, abandoning their homes, and seeking new educational frontiers in salubrious Western countries, are also causing far-reaching demographic implications. While on a visit to a seaside resort near Kochi, this writer got a chance to interact with the owner. He was expressing concern that most of the wards of fishermen have availed of student bank loans, left for Canada for studies, and are preparing to settle down there. Many empty houses are up for sale, but there are no takers. In many parts of India, especially Punjab, similar scenarios are happening.

The westward-bound journey of students is nothing to be proud of. Many are leaving with a strong desire to make some Western country their Karmabhoomi. The floating student population is also being used by countries like Canada to fill up their inhospitable and barren terrain. The best course is for Indian educationists, teachers, and students to start a reform movement to make our educational institutions academically vibrant not politically vibrant. Educational institutions should not become playgrounds for political internships.

The author is former Director General of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics