France beckons students

To encourage Indian students to study in France, officials dole out goodies like hassle-free visas and extending scholarships

February 09, 2014 06:06 pm | Updated May 18, 2016 07:06 am IST

Students preferring to pursue Masters’ programmes in France have the opportunity to stay on in the country up to one year after completion of their course to find employment, says Attaché, Scientific and University Cooperation, Caroline Gueny-Mentre.

Visa rules simplified

To convince the Indian student community to take up admissions into more than 800 Masters’ programmes being offered in English in France, the Campus France India officials said that visa rules have been simplified.

“We don’t want to overburden students and have taken all possible measures to simplify visa regulations,” she said at a programme organised by the Campus France India for 2014 winter admissions. More than 20 French B-schools, engineering schools and arts and hospitality institutes participated.

To encourage and welcome Indian students to France, the Ambassador of France to India, Francois Richier, has also granted five-year short stay visa to all Indian alumni of French institutes. According to the French officials, past, present and future students, who hold a Master’s or any postgraduate degree, can stay in France for a period of five years after they complete graduation.

“Very few study visas of Indian students are rejected every year. There is no limit to the number of visas that we are willing to offer to Indian students. There are adequate scholarship opportunities for meritorious students. We hope these measures will help double the number of admissions of Indian students in French universities,” said Caroline Gueny-Mentre.

The French educational authorities said small class size, good research facilities, easy access to renowned academics and affordable tuition fee would make French education a much sought after for Indian student community.

Campus France India authorities said they were looking to double the intake of Indian students, which is 3,000 students per year.

“The UNESCO has ranked France as the third best destination for international students after US and UK. There are not many phoney educational institutes in France and students can take complete guidance from our stud-ent counsellors for admiss-ions,” said National Co-ordinator, Campus France India, Sapna Sachdeva.

Campus France officials maintained that there was no compulsion for students to learn the local language.

“All the courses are being offered in English. It depends on the personal interest and choice of students whether they want to learn French language or not,” said Director, Alliance Francaise, Hyderabad, Jean-Manuel Duhaut.

Students can register online at http://salons.campusfrance.org/india-fev14/v/ to book their 20-minute interviews with educational institutes. For details, call 90006-33384.

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