Creating easy access for foreign students is the new goal of the HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who stressed on the importance of “educational diplomacy” between other countries and India. Speaking at an event organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Irani said while India is an “affordable destination” for quality education, the Government was doing everything possible to create avenues to meet the interests of foreign students, who wish to attend the top ranked institutions of the country.
She said the Government would release the rankings of educational institutions on April 4 and decision to hold IIT JEE Advanced tests abroad.
“The challenge before the country’s educational institutions is whether the engagement with foreign students is to be limited only on the basis of scholarships or can they be invited because of excellence in various fields,” she said.
“India is an affordable destination for high-quality education. We have to take steps to bring foreign students not only through scholarships but also to those students, who want to take education from our best institutes of technology,” she said.
Irani said the rankings of Indian institutes under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) will be out on April 4 and asked MEA officials to leverage this data to reach out to foreign students. “Over 3,600 higher education institutes have provided their data for these rankings..I am hopeful that it will attract those students who look for the best ranked institutes of India,” the HRD Minister said, referring to IIT council’s proposal to hold entrance tests in eight foreign countries.
“Recognising the need to increase the inflow of foreign students, the IIT council took a unanimous decision to ensure that in 2017 students from eight nations, including SAARC nations, would be allowed to sit for IIT-JEE (Advanced) exam,” she said.
Addressing a gathering which included ICCR chief Prof lokesh Chandra and several official from External Affairs Ministry, Irani said, “Cultural diplomacy has been at the forefront of her Ministry’s engagement with the MEA for too long.” “The PM now has given an added push through education diplomacy. I am hopeful this educational diplomacy is a part of diplomacy that will take us from strength to strength in the times to come,” she said.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations chief Chandra, in his speech, said ICCR annually offers around 3,350 scholarship slots to international students, wishing to study in India in various programmes and disciplines. “These scholarships cover traditional courses in Indian Classical dance and music, Ayurveda and Yoga. To modern, secular and development studies... More than 6,000 foreign students from around 120 countries of the world are on the roll of ICCR almost at any given point of time,” Chandra said.