A grand new twist to brain drain

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI, NOV. 25. India is a big market. No doubt about it. But not just one where multinationals can dump their stuff. It is also a ``must'' destination for internationally renowned educational institutions shopping for ``knowledge capital''. Or so it would seem from the number of countries mounting education fairs across India these days to woo the Indian student. And Delhi, by virtue of being the Capital, is an inevitable stopover for these fairs. The past month alone has seen four countries mount education fairs here and two more are on the cards this coming fortnight.

While most diplomatic missions hosting such fairs seek to project these as a way to facilitate the search for a foreign education, there can be no denying the high credibility of the Indian student in an age when universities have become an industry. Says the Education Counsellor at the U.S. Educational Foundation in India (USEFI), Ms. Vidya Rao: ``Indian students are rated the highest in the international student community.''

Host to an annual fair since 1994, USEFI's exercise is in keeping with the priority accorded to international students by American universities. ``Indian students are in demand because of their merit and hard work. This makes them high achievers, thereby raising the performance level of their universities.''

USEFI statistics show that Indian student arrivals in the U.S. outstripped Korea this year to become third only to China and Japan. Such is the American hold over the global knowledge economy that the British are going all out to ``retrieve a situation that has slipped from our hands''.

Having just mounted the biggest ever British Education Fair in India, the Education Counselling Service harbours ambitions of doubling the number of student departures to the U.K. from the present 4,000 per annum over the next four years. And to woo outward-bound Indian students, the British have launched another scholarship scheme. Available for the next three years, it will cost Britain an additional 700,000 pounds annually.

Lamenting an Anglo-Saxon domination over the community of students seeking overseas education, the Germans used the 40th

anniversary of the presence of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in India to step up efforts to market Germany as an educational destination. With plans to double the number of student arrivals from India in five years, the Germans have relaxed visa rules and are even trying to bring in legislation allowing foreign students to work there on completion of their studies.

Other recent contenders for the Indian student are France and Canada which are to host their education fairs in different parts of India over the next fortnight. While it will be the third such exercise for the French, the Canadian endeavour is an year older and has already led to a steady increase in the number of student arrivals from India.

Staking its maiden claim for the Indian brain this year is New Zealand. A surprise entrant, the Kiwis joined the race with a four-city tour and sought to beat the others with citizenship opportunities for successful students besides, of course, the promise of quality education backed with all the trappings of a developed country.

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