Students from war-torn countries and troubled regions are finding Delhi University a safe option to stay and study, as the number of applications from foreign students from these areas has increased this year, said University authorities.
DU Foreign Students’ Registry office, which caters to foreign students, has received 3,222 applications this year, an increase of around 1,000 applications from last year. In 2015, 2,200 foreign students had applied for various courses in the University, recently ranked sixth in the country by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development under the National Institute Ranking Framework.
The officials noted that a number of applications have come from countries like Palestine and Yemen, something that has never happened in the past.
“In a first, we have received applications from Yemen, Palestine and almost the entire Africa. Students from Iraq and Iran have also applied in good numbers. This shows that students from troubled countries are looking at DU as a safe option to stay and study,” said Amrit Kaur Basra, the Deputy Dean, Foreign Students’ Registry.
“The reason for this is that the University offers a safe residential campus for foreign students. The tuition fee here is also very affordable,” she added.
According to officials, there is also an increase in the number of candidates who want to pursue certificate courses in Hindi.
“This year, 30 students from China have applied to the University. Of them, 20 have applied for a certificate course in Hindi. In the past too we have noticed that foreign students have shown interest in the language,” Ms. Basra added.
For various undergraduate courses in the University, the largest number of students — 750 — have applied from Nepal, 690 students from Tibet and 515 students from Afghanistan.
The admission process for foreign students is different from that for local students and starts much earlier. While the University is yet to begin the application process for Indian students, admissions for foreign students have already closed.
DU has five per cent reservation for foreign students in each course in each college. These students are selected based on their application and academic records and do not have to take the entrance exam or give interviews even in institutes like Faculty of Management Studies (FMS).
DU has 54,000 seats at the undergraduate level in its various colleges. The admission process is set to begin soon and is likely to go completely online from this year onwards. The University has already started the application process for postgraduate courses, which is completely online.
