ENTER THE DRAGON China, which aim to become Asia’s international education hub by 2020, is a real choice for Indian and other foreign students

ENTER THE DRAGON

China, which aim to become Asia’s international education hub by 2020, is a real choice for Indian and other foreign students

Ayoung Indian engineer decided to pursue his MBA in China. A number of his friends were surprised as that’s not a country many would think of as a B-school destination. But Ravi Mittal had his reasons (read his story: ‘I pay half of what I would have spent in the US.’). Like him, hundreds of thousands of Indian and other overseas students have opted for the Middle Kingdom that boasts of an economy in trillions of dollars.
According to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, the numbers have jumped up in the past five years. The embassy and other official sources state that, in 2011, 2,92,611 international students, including 9,800 Indians went to China. The year before, 2,65,090 candidates from 194 countries and regions did so. The countries with the largest representation were Republic of Korea, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The Dragon craves more. Aiming to be the top choice of those looking to take up higher, secondary or even elementary education on this continent, the country has launched a 10-year plan to have Asia’s largest international student population— half a million, including 1,50,000 pursuing degrees— by the end of this decade.
“China’s Ministry of Education will make further efforts to optimise the environment for international students, improve management and upgrade education quality, by adhering to the National Outline for Medium and Long Term Educational Reform and Development as well as the Study in China Plan, aiming at attracting 5,00,000 international students by 2020 so as to make China Asia’s biggest host country for international students,” according to the China Scholarship Council website.

Different experts have publicly voiced scepticism over the ‘ambitious’ expansion plans. Sreemati Chakrbarti, a professor at Delhi University’s department of east Asian studies, who specialises in Chinese politics and education, counters, “For China, nothing seems too ambitious. Maybe they’ll lower the tuition, increase the number of courses taught in English, get foreign faculty.”
Authorities have already set the ball rolling to boost China’s education sector. According to one report, the country would expand the scholarship programme for overseas students, with “at least” 1.5 billion yuan ($238 million) worth of scholarships in 2012-13.
The financial aspect is one of the main factors that has driven students east-ward, as is the relatively less competitive entry to courses such as medicine and management, which are the favourites (more than 90%) of Indians studying in the People’s Republic, according to information provided by the embassy. “It’s quite easier for Indian students to register for the medicine major than in European or US universities.”
Also, some Chinese institutions are among the world’s top 200 universities. “The quality of education is fairly good,” says Chakrbarti. “10 to 15 Chinese universities are world-class.”
Other than entrance requirements, price and physical proximity to India, there are other critical reasons for learning in and about this globally-significant nation. A case in point is the US. It is creating the “next generation of experts on China” through its 1,00,000-strong initiative by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, under which 1,00,000 Americans are going to study there by 2014.