India's universities attracting more foreign students

MCN International ^ | 23 August 2004 1648 hrs | MCN International

[CarrotAndStick]

NEW DELHI : India is making leaps forward in university education and it is now drawing students from around the world.

Besides offering courses that are far cheaper than similar ones elsewhere, many subjects are tailored to meet international scholars' requirements.

The University of Pune, in West India, is called the "Oxford of the East" by some people.

The number of international students applying to study at the university this year has doubled to 3,000.

This is partially thanks to efforts to streamline the application process, and rework the courses and syllabus to give foreign students what they are looking for.

Dr Santishree Pandit, Director, International Studies, University of Pune, said, "A lot of Japanese students have come for Pali, Prakrit and Sanskrit. We also have students from the People's Republic of China. This year we have 20 applications for undergraduate courses, MA in philosophy, especially Buddhist philosophy."

Science subjects like microbiology, bio-informatics and life-sciences are also popular.

And all at a fraction of the cost of courses in the US or UK.

Mohammed Reza Hossein Poor, a university student from Iran, said, "I had a look at the Internet. I found the Fergusson College. It's the best one. I've got friends here who told me it's the best one. So I chose it."

Erdine-Us Atiya, a university student from Mongolia, said, "I came because education in India is cheaper than any other country. The fees for one year in my country is the same as the fees for three years in India."

Pune's university is now ranked Number 4 in India.

And its reputation is rising globally.

The rise in the number of foreign students coming to India is seen by some as a reversal of the brain drain, when Indians rushed for studies abroad due to lack of facilities here.

One hopes to see similar drives at other universities around the country. - CNA

[finnigan2]

I've never met anyone from Pune U., and it very well be an exception, but I have worked with Indian and Pakistani nationals over the years who were graduates from other institutions in those two countries.
My impression was that their universities placed a very high premium on memory learning and very little on developing deductive reasoning. In other words, they could regurgitate all sorts of book based theories, formulas and arguments, but when it came to integrating theory from book one with the formulas from book two in order to solve a unique problem, they had difficulty.
It's not a racial thing, it's more a cultural issue because I have met Indian national who received their entire education in the West and they can be very good.

[CarrotAndStick]

From my experience, those types are common throughout the world (result of procrastination and last minute slogging before exams). The truly gifted ones are rare to find. In America. In India. Of course, with countries with high rates of immigration, such gifted people are easier to find. Maybe Japan could be an exception.

[razoroccam]

I'm from University of Pune, though you've never met me. From an Army run medical school though, so it was a bit of a mish-mash. But you are entirely correct. Indian education pays a lot of emphasis on rote memorization and not enough on deductive reasoning.