Lok Sabha Question No. 84 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-29
Subject: Students Migration to Foreign Countries
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Prof. Sougata Ray, Dr. Shashi Tharoor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 84 ANSWERED ON 29.07.2024

## Students Migration to Foreign Countries

## *84 Prof. Sougata Ray:

Dr. Shashi Tharoor:

Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:

- a.  whether it is true that India is world's second largest country after China which sends students abroad and the number of Indian students has increased four times in the last 14 years and if so, the details thereof;
- b.  the  number of  students  migrated  to  foreign  countries  for  education  since  the  last  ten years, State-wise;
- c.  whether the Government ascertained the longstanding impact on students' migration of such magnitude which has become a major source of capital and brain drain for India while hugely benefitting the economies of the advanced countries and if so, the details thereof;
- d.  whether the Government had conducted any study to find out the reasons of large scale students migration;
- e.  if  so, the details thereof and steps taken to check such migration and to prevent brain drain; and
- f. whether  the  Government  has  made  any  attempt  to  understand  the  reasons  of increasing emigration of Kerala students for higher education abroad?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (F)  IN  RESPECT  OF  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  84  FOR  REPLY  ON  29.07.2024  REGARDING 'STUDENTS MIGRATION TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES' ASKED BY PROF. SOUGATA RAY AND DR. SHASHI THAROOR

(a) to (b) Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Ministry of Home Affairs maintains the departure and arrival data of Indians.  Studies abroad are a matter of individual will and choice. Moreover, there are no restrictions on cross-border student mobility, which is contingent on a variety of factors such as affordability, access to bank loans, exposure to foreign societies, aptitude for particular  branch  of  studies  etc.  Purpose  of  Indians  going  abroad  for  higher  education  is captured manually based either on their verbal disclosure at the time of immigration clearance or the type of visa obtained for the destination country. The number of Indians, who disclosed their purpose of visit as Study/Education while going abroad to BoI, is follows:

| Year   |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| Number | 369876 | 455072 | 518787 | 587313 | 260363 |

| Year   |   2021 |   2022 |   2023 |   2024 (as on 20.07.2024) |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------------------------|
| Number | 445582 | 752111 | 894783 |                    360588 |

(c) to (f) The Government recognizes the reality of a global workplace, especially in an era of knowledge economy. A successful, prosperous, and influential diaspora is viewed an asset for India.  The  Government's  efforts  are  also  aimed  at  harnessing  the  potential  of  the  diaspora, including the sharing of knowledge and expertise.

The Government has taken a number of initiatives to improve access to higher education for Indian  students.  The  implementation  of  the  National  Education  Policy  2020  has  seen  many initiatives  being  rolled  out  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  access,  equity,  inclusivity  and  quality laid down under the policy. NEP 2020 has also laid great emphasis on internationalization of education and on establishing India as a global destination for education.

In order to promote access to inclusive and high quality higher education we have set up more institutions across the country. As a result,

- i. The number of Universities has increased to 1,168 in 2021-22 from 760 in 2014-15. The number of colleges has increased to 45,473 in 2021-22 from 38,498 in 2014-15.
- ii. The total enrolment in Higher Education has increased to nearly 4.33 crore in 2021-22 from 3.42 crore in 2014-15.The female enrolment has increased to 2.07 crore in 202122 from 1.57 crore in 2014-15.
- iii. We now have 48 Central universities, 23 IITs, 21 IIMs and 25 IIITs as against 40 CUs, 16 IITs, 13 IIMs and 9 IIITs in 2014.

Various measures are also  being  undertaken  to  improve  quality  of  higher  education  and  to develop a globally competitive education landscape in the country such as:

- i. Efforts have been undertaken to make higher education more learner-centric. National Credit  Framework  (NCF)  which  subsumes  National  Higher  Education  Qualification Framework (NHEQF) and National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF) was adopted to  provide  students  the  much-needed  flexibility,  allowing  creative  combination  of subjects,  providing  multiple  pathways,  establishing  equivalence  and  mobility  to  the students.
- ii. Higher  Education  is  being  made  multidisciplinary,  flexible  with  multiple  entry-exit options. An Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) platform has been established and made available to the students and institutions enabling recognition of credits across Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
- iii. A number of initiatives are being taken to integrate technology in the management of education  as  well  as  to  increase  accessibility  to  learners  by  leveraging  technology, which includes offering Online and ODL learning.Enabling regulations have been made allowing students to get up to 40% credits of courses using SWAYAM platform resulting in  enhanced  flexibility  and  on-demand  learning.  Currently,  305  HEIs  have  adopted SWAYAM  regulations.  SWAYAM  courses  have  total  cumulative  enrolment  of  more than4.30 Crore with 10 lakh certifications/year.  For  administration  and  governance of Universities  /  HEIs,  a  technology  enabled  ERP  system  named  SAMARTH  has  been launched
- iv. Guidelines on Professor of Practice have been brought in to enable HEIs to work with industry experts in developing courses and curriculum to meet the industry and societal needs.  Schemes  such  as  National  Apprenticeship  Training  Scheme  (NATS)  and SWAYAM Plus have been launched to ensure industry-academia connect in HEIs.
- v. Enabling  regulations  have  been  notified  to  promote  academic  collaboration  between Indian  and  Foreign  Universities  through  Joint/dual  degree  or  twinning  arrangements. About  40  Indian  institutions  have  entered  into  collaboration  for  twinning,  21  for  Joint degrees and 40 for dual degrees.
- vi. The University Grants Commission has also brought in enabling regulations setting up and operation of campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India. WorldClass Foreign Universities and Institutions have been allowed to establish their campus in  Gujarat  International  Finance  Tec-City  (GIFT  City)  and  offer  courses  in  Financial Management,  FinTech,  Science,  Technology,  Engineering  and  Mathematics.  Two Australian Universities i.e. Deakin University and University of Wollongong have already set up their campuses in GIFT City.

These initiatives have brought transformational changes in the higher educational standards in India, leading to improvement in the global ranking of our institutions as follows:

- i. The number of Indian HEIs in global top 500 has increased to 11 in 2025 as compared to 7 in 2015 QS World University Rankings.
- ii. Two Indian institutions figure in top 150 of QS ranking
- iii. Total number of Indian HEIs in the QS ranking in 2024 is 46 as compared to 9 in 2014
- iv. India  stands  as  one  of  the  world's  most  rapidly  expanding  research  centers  as  our research output surged by an impressive 54%, which is more than double of the global average in the QS Subject Rankings 2024.
- v. India has improved its ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 76 th  rank in 2014 to 40 th  rank in 2024.

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