Agreements to oblige host countries to ensure the welfare of Indian students during crises

• The war in Ukraine and the evacuation program launched by the government following the crisis have highlighted the number of students that travel abroad.

Indian students abroad

• India has a history of students traveling abroad for higher education and major personalities who went abroad include Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Amartya Sen and Manmohan Singh.
• As estimated before the COVID pandemic, about 7,50,000 Indian students were studying abroad, spending around $24 billion in foreign economies, which accounts for 1% of India’s GDP.
• The number is said to increase to about 1.8 million by 2024 and students are likely to spend $80 billion.
• India is the second largest source of international students after China.
• The reasons for such a high number of students going abroad include the gap in India’s supply of quality education against the demand.

Benefits of having large number of Indian students abroad

• Sushma Swaraj referred to Indians abroad as “brand ambassadors of India”.
• The Prime Ministers of India and UK called Indians in the U.K. as the “living bridge” between the countries.
• The large base of Indian students abroad have various benefits to India in the form of,
• Soft power
• Knowledge transfer
• Transfer of Indian culture
• Remittances they send back to India

Recent events that troubled Indian students abroad

• The unfortunate deaths of two Indian students in Ukraine.
• Around 2,000 students in Canada got affected as their colleges were abruptly closed.
• A few years ago many ‘bogus’ colleges in the U.K. shut down abruptly, impacting them.
• During the pandemic, Australia shut its borders to many Indian students who had enrolled to study in the country.
• Even in the U.K. people were seen stranded without access to food and accommodation as they lost their economic means.

Need for protection

• The Indian government must proactively build a safety net for international students.
• International arrangements that require host countries to ensure the welfare of students during a crisis should be given the highest priority.
• The trade and other agreements that India signs should also negotiate for the inclusion of safety of these students.
• A mandatory student insurance scheme be formulated to ensure the interests of the students.
• Students take expensive loans from institutional and non-institutional sources to finance their education and these institutions should be regulated.

Conclusion

• As India celebrates the achievements of Indians abroad, we should also take up the responsibility of safeguarding and ensuring their welfare.