Corona batch: 23k from Guj went abroad for education

Corona batch: 23k from Guj went abroad for education

Fourth Highest Figure In India

Parth.Shastri@timesgroup.com

Ahmedabad:24.07.2021

Despite travel restrictions being in place for much of 2020, 2.61 lakh students made it to other countries for pursuing studies, revealed the data tabled in the Rajya Sabha by the ministry of external affairs. The number represented more than a 50% fall from the four-year high of 5.88 lakh in 2019.

Gujarat showed a similar trend with the student numbers falling from 48,051 to 23,156 in the same period, a 52% drop.

In terms of sending students abroad, Gujarat was in fourth place behind Andhra Pradesh (35,614), Punjab (33,412), and Maharashtra (29,079). In all, about 9% of the students who went abroad from India were from Gujarat. Even in the first two months of 2021, the state maintained that ratio.

The data from 2016 also revealed that the number of those aspiring to study abroad has doubled from 24,775 in 2016 to 48,051 in 2019.

“Covid has surely impacted the plans of many aiming for both graduate and postgraduate studies,” said Jay Trivedi, a city-based immigration and visa consultant. “Annually, about 15,000 students go to Canada and the US alone for further studies. The number has been affected a bit due to travel restrictions and other factors.” Trivedi added: “But the trend is here to stay, with countries such as Australia and Germany and some other European countries attracting students for specialized courses.” How will 2021 pan out for the students? Nethra Rangarajan (name changed), a city-based private university student, said that she had waited for a year to get admission in an AI learning course in the US.