It seems the rising geopolitical violence in many parts of the world does not deter rising student migration from India.
Amid continuing wars and escalating violence in many countries, the students’ outmigration is steadily going on, including to strife-torn countries like Russia, Ukraine, Israel, and Bangladesh. According to the data collated from Indian Missions and Posts abroad by the Ministry of External Affairs, the total number of Indian students in foreign universities across the world is estimated to be 1.33 million as of January 1, 2024.
Interestingly, Russia, which started an invasion of Ukraine in 2022, had an intake of 21,511 Indian students in 2022, which rose to 25,278 in 2023 and 24,940 in 2024. So is the case with Ukraine, although there is a marginal decrease, which had an enrolment of 23,515 students in 2022, followed by 11,987 students in 2023, and as per the data in January 2024, 2,510 students pursued higher education in the war-torn country, from where the Indian mission had evacuated students in 2022 following the war. Another example is Israel, which has a total of Indian 900 students in 2024.
There are also a considerable number of Indian students in many African countries which sometime back witnessed civil war-like situations. Even the neighbouring Bangladesh, where civil unrest brought in a regime change now, has a total of 8,534 students from India in 2024, according to the data tabled in the parliament. An analysis of the total number of student migrations also reveals that in some countries there has been an upward trend in the student intake from India, whereas in others the student intake has declined in the post-pandemic period.
To middle-income countries
Speaking to The Hindu, Ajith Kolassery, Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NoRKA), the State government agency that works for the welfare of the expatriates (pravasis) from the State, said, “A good number of the students who migrated to these middle-income countries belong to either middle class or low-income families.” For them, the cost factor is the major driving force to opt for higher education in these countries, where higher education is relatively cheap compared to self-finance education in India, said Mr. Kolassery
Second, easy entry without any major procedural hurdles and the privileges offered by the host countries, where higher education is purely a business are the major factors contributing to the migration to these countries. “We have noticed that after the initial months of war in Ukraine, students started to return to the war-torn country. Higher education a big money-spinning business, and there is a huge network for them both in India and in the host countries to facilitate the student migrations,” added Mr. Kolassery.
In the case of migration to European countries, permanent resident status is the major attraction for students from India, according to experts. The extent of the money being shelled out by the student community is beyond one’s imagination. For instance, the Kerala Migration Survey, 2023, pegged the number of student emigrants from Kerala at 2.5 lakhs in 2023, and the outward remittance is estimated at ₹43,378 crores, which is about 20% of the total inward remittance, according to the study.
