The Hindu Business Line : Promoting Indian education abroad

IF Britain, Ireland, Australia and the US are in India to woo students to their educational institutions overseas, India is doing the same in other countries.

Educational Consultants India Ltd (Ed.CIL), a Government of India enterprise, is targeting a revenue of $5 million in 2004-05 by promoting Indian education overseas.

In an announcement today it said that it hoped to bring to India 1,500 international students this year who will study in the country's public and private institutions.

Ed. CIL has already visited six countries - China, Malaysia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait - and has brought in 330 students from these countries.

In May and June this year, company officials will be visiting Mauritius, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Yemen to fulfil their target for the year.

The SAARC countries and African nations are also part of the areas identified as potential student pullers.

Ed. CIL, which has worked largely in the area of education-related project reports and education research, is upbeat about its aggressive marketing of the India brand in higher education this year.

The institutions that fall under the CIL recruitment ambit are primarily those that come under the Government-created Direct Admission of Students Abroad (DASA) scheme.

Under the scheme, 15 per cent of the seats are reserved for foreign nationals, people of Indian origin and non-resident Indians.

Included in these are the centrally funded universities and premier technical institutions such as the National Institutes of Technology (formerly Regional Engineering Colleges).

"Last year, only 57 DASA seats were filled, this year we have already filled 330,'' said Mr Ajit Kumar Motwani, Director (Technical), Ed.CIL.

According to him, some of the reasons why students would choose India as an education destination were the country's strong university network, the global recognition of its courses, moderate fee and cost of living and, most important, the fact that education is in English medium.

Ed. CIL is investing close to Rs 2 crore on promoting Indian education this year, said Mr Motwani.

He revealed that the most popular courses with overseas students were engineering and technology, information technology and business management, in the same order.