Studying abroad is a dream for every Indian. TWF correspondent Aparajita Gupta takes a sneak peak into the way the dream merchants – The British Council and The USEFI –help them take giant step to making it a reality

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The call of the West has been the most romantic of all. Life is greener on the other side of the Atlantic for all the aspirants as studying abroad has always been a dream for students.

And now in the age of Information Technology when every other ‘dude’ you bump into is a netizen, international councils are reaching out to more students than ever before. The lure of the life on the superhighways is too hard to resist. Students with rainbow dreams throng the education offices to get a feel of the magic potion that will change their life.

In India two institutions have become the torch-bearers in converting the starry-eyed dreams of these youths into reality. They are the British Council and the United State Educational Foundation in India (USEFI). They offer counselling and pre-departure briefing for the aspirants. Students get a holistic view of the various subjects on offer during the counseling sessions that play a large part in shaping their goals abroad.

Last year alone some 95,000 students from India went to study in either the UK or the USA through these two elite institutes. If numbers are mind boggling, the chunk of the meat goes to USEFI, which alone catered its services to 79,736 students last year. The British Council helped 15,000 students shape a career in Great Britain.

The British Council through its partnership with 300 institutions in the UK bring all information that is required by a student. Then they cater it through the Education UK Units based in the four metros and the eight British Libraries across India. While British Council counsel pupil and tell them how to apply and where to apply they are also given the privilege to do their personal research at Education Help Desk, free of cost.

In USEFI this service comes at a certain price. In the long run this difference does not adversely effect the students’ decision of choosing the country, where they want to study.

Officer In-charge of Education in UK, Mr Victor Rao, says, “The ratio of students going abroad is 50% for post-graduation course, 40% for under graduation course and the remaining 10% for others.”

According to Dr. Sunrit Mullick, Regional Officer of USEFI, “70% went for PG course to America and the remaining 30% went for the under graduate studies.”

The students going to study in the US mostly opt for science based courses, followed by Management studies. The picture is diametrically opposite for the students going to the UK. Students mostly pursue studies related to Business & Management and next in demand is Bio-informatics and other science subjects followed by Humanities.

Dr Mullick informed that of the number of students that went to America only a negligible number actually came back to work in the country. Most of them stayed back to enhance their career over there.

However, Mr Rao said that the scenario was different in case of the UK.

“People going for Business studies might not be eyeing a bigger job at any MNC. He might be possessing a family business here, thus after enriching himself with higher knowledge the person comes back to continue with their own business back home. But while studying in both the countries the students can work to study further,” he says.

Dr.Mullick adds, “With IT industry booming in our own country during recent years, a number of students are coming back to continue to work in their home country.”

Both the institutions think that there was absolutely no brain drain though so many students opted to stay back. Says Mr Rao, “As most of the students came back, the question of brain drain does not arise. On the contrary students coming back with higher degrees and better knowledge enrich the work culture of the country they belong to.”

Dr Mullick, was also against the idea of brain drain, but the logic was different. “The students going abroad to study constitute a miniscule number, so if at all they preferred to stay back there was no considerable change in the overall cerebral quality of the country.”

Asked whether post 9/11 there had been any change in the enrolling of students from Third World countries, especially for those bound for the USA, USEFI quoted that there was absolutely no impact of that incident on the students.

Says Mr Rao of British Council, “There was only one change since 9/11. The students’ visas are now being accepted through agencies.”

“Nothing has changed for genuine student visa - student with proper qualification, adequate funding and proper course and university are most welcome to study in the UK.”

Incidentally, the alumni relation is another important factor. Association for British Scholars, located in the 25 cities of India, help students get a better view of the returned scholar from UK.

In eastern India Mr Rao had been instrumental in opening chapters of this association in Guwahati, Patna and Bhubneswar.

Asked about such an association of the US scholars, Dr.Mullick says, “So far there has not been any such strong association. Though there is a loose collective group.”