“My son wants to pursue his Bachelors from U.S.” says Mr. Sudhir Kapoor, suddenly Mr. Nagesh Patel also interrupts “even my daughter will be going to London for higher studies.” The discussion went on and went and suddenly Mr. Omkar Sharma replied “I will be sending my son and daughter to India for pursuing their studies after completing school.” These were three NRI friends who met each other in Delhi after 5 years and were planning for the future of their children. Mr. Kapoor and Mr. Patel work in Dubai whereas Mr. Sharma in New York. Both were surprised to hear Mr. Sharma, and asked him “why India, when you can give your children better education in the U.S.?”
To this Mr. Sharma replies gone were the days when Indian parents preferred to send their children abroad for higher education, now the scenario has reversed with NRI parents seeking to send their children to India for better education. He adds further why choose any another country when our own country is providing our children quality education!
Today India has one of the World's largest and most diverse education systems with over 320 universities and 16,000 colleges. Nearly 9.3 million students study at specialty institutions, professional colleges, management institutions, and institutions for medicine and engineering etc. The medium of instruction in these places is invariably English except for a few that teach arts subjects or humanities in regional languages. If we talk about schools, here also India is providing quality education which attracts kids every year from different part of the world. Taking the example of popular public which have awesome construction, talented faculty huge libraries, massive IT systems, impressive array of sports and cultural activities, counselling, global cuisine, 24-hour health services, and a very low teacher-pupil ratio, these schools have it all. NRI’s have also established such schools in different part of the country.
Taking examples of few such universities in the Indian Capital New Delhi which provide quality education which attract not only the NRI’s but also the foreigners. Central Universities like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and private universities like Amity International give lot of opportunities to these students. They even have reserved seats for NRI’s. Jamia receives students from countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Persian Gulf etc. It even runs culture exchange programme, which gives an opportunity to the students to interact and know and learn about the other country. One of the biggest reasons why India receives large number of foreign and NRI students is that India has an advantage with the widespread use of English language that makes learning and daily interaction easier. When asked how do the NRI students feel in India? Most of them gave the same answer; coming back to Motherland is always a good experience and India has taught them which any other country would never teach. Foreigners seem very impressed by the culture and the large number of festivals which different communities celebrate in India.
My curiosity to know more about NRI students and their experience in India drove me to Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University located in New Delhi which has a good number of NRI and foreign students. There I met Asim, an NRI student, born and brought up in Saudi Arabia, who did his Bachelors in Commerce from Jamia. Hearing the name of the country he belongs to my curiosity reached the heights! Here are the few questions he answered and told about his sweet and bitter experiences in India.
1. Why did you choose India?
Although I hold an Indian passport by birth, it is quite ironic that I have hardly visited India. My father being an Indian loves his culture a lot, and considers it to be the best place for the exposure. Moreover undergraduate education is quite inexpensive here.
2. So, how did you find your stay in India? Any kind of problem that you faced initially?
Coming from a country like Saudi Arabia to India is altogether a different experience. Initially I couldn’t adjust with the people, but adjusting with the taste of the (Spicy) food was even more difficult for me!
3. Do you find any difference in Education system in India and Saudi Arabia?
As Saudi Arabia is a conservative Islamic country, therefore the education there is not co-educational. All the schools and colleges there are separate for girls and boys; they are not even near- by each other. The girls school and boys school of Indian Embassy are about 15 kilometres apart. Where as in India we find both kinds of education systems, co-educational as well as separate.
4. What did you learn here which you could have never been able to learn there?
Well, now atleast I can myself a graduate (laughs). Talking about my own university Jamia Millia Islamia, it gave me an opportunity to learn Urdu language apart from my comprehensive financial syllabus. For me that is my one of the biggest achievements in India. Moreover, the kind of diversity this university has is something to watch out. I had a big friend circle which had guys from Kashmir, Yemen, Iran and from other parts of the country. Knowing so many different people at the same time was so delightful.
5. After going back to Saudi Arabia, did you see any enthusiasm amongst the NRI’s there regarding the Indian Education?
Well not really! People still prefer to send their children to either U.K or U.S for higher education. But slowly and steadily the awareness towards the Indian education is picking up pace.
6. So, finally tell us do you see yourself working or settling in India?
Yes, ofcourse! That’s why even after completing my graduation am still staying in India. Can’t say any thing about settling here, but still they say no matter how far you go but the end of the day you always come back to your home.
To this Mr. Sharma replies gone were the days when Indian parents preferred to send their children abroad for higher education, now the scenario has reversed with NRI parents seeking to send their children to India for better education. He adds further why choose any another country when our own country is providing our children quality education!
Today India has one of the World's largest and most diverse education systems with over 320 universities and 16,000 colleges. Nearly 9.3 million students study at specialty institutions, professional colleges, management institutions, and institutions for medicine and engineering etc. The medium of instruction in these places is invariably English except for a few that teach arts subjects or humanities in regional languages. If we talk about schools, here also India is providing quality education which attracts kids every year from different part of the world. Taking the example of popular public which have awesome construction, talented faculty huge libraries, massive IT systems, impressive array of sports and cultural activities, counselling, global cuisine, 24-hour health services, and a very low teacher-pupil ratio, these schools have it all. NRI’s have also established such schools in different part of the country.
Taking examples of few such universities in the Indian Capital New Delhi which provide quality education which attract not only the NRI’s but also the foreigners. Central Universities like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia and private universities like Amity International give lot of opportunities to these students. They even have reserved seats for NRI’s. Jamia receives students from countries like Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Persian Gulf etc. It even runs culture exchange programme, which gives an opportunity to the students to interact and know and learn about the other country. One of the biggest reasons why India receives large number of foreign and NRI students is that India has an advantage with the widespread use of English language that makes learning and daily interaction easier. When asked how do the NRI students feel in India? Most of them gave the same answer; coming back to Motherland is always a good experience and India has taught them which any other country would never teach. Foreigners seem very impressed by the culture and the large number of festivals which different communities celebrate in India.
My curiosity to know more about NRI students and their experience in India drove me to Jamia Millia Islamia, Central University located in New Delhi which has a good number of NRI and foreign students. There I met Asim, an NRI student, born and brought up in Saudi Arabia, who did his Bachelors in Commerce from Jamia. Hearing the name of the country he belongs to my curiosity reached the heights! Here are the few questions he answered and told about his sweet and bitter experiences in India.
1. Why did you choose India?
Although I hold an Indian passport by birth, it is quite ironic that I have hardly visited India. My father being an Indian loves his culture a lot, and considers it to be the best place for the exposure. Moreover undergraduate education is quite inexpensive here.
2. So, how did you find your stay in India? Any kind of problem that you faced initially?
Coming from a country like Saudi Arabia to India is altogether a different experience. Initially I couldn’t adjust with the people, but adjusting with the taste of the (Spicy) food was even more difficult for me!
3. Do you find any difference in Education system in India and Saudi Arabia?
As Saudi Arabia is a conservative Islamic country, therefore the education there is not co-educational. All the schools and colleges there are separate for girls and boys; they are not even near- by each other. The girls school and boys school of Indian Embassy are about 15 kilometres apart. Where as in India we find both kinds of education systems, co-educational as well as separate.
4. What did you learn here which you could have never been able to learn there?
Well, now atleast I can myself a graduate (laughs). Talking about my own university Jamia Millia Islamia, it gave me an opportunity to learn Urdu language apart from my comprehensive financial syllabus. For me that is my one of the biggest achievements in India. Moreover, the kind of diversity this university has is something to watch out. I had a big friend circle which had guys from Kashmir, Yemen, Iran and from other parts of the country. Knowing so many different people at the same time was so delightful.
5. After going back to Saudi Arabia, did you see any enthusiasm amongst the NRI’s there regarding the Indian Education?
Well not really! People still prefer to send their children to either U.K or U.S for higher education. But slowly and steadily the awareness towards the Indian education is picking up pace.
6. So, finally tell us do you see yourself working or settling in India?
Yes, ofcourse! That’s why even after completing my graduation am still staying in India. Can’t say any thing about settling here, but still they say no matter how far you go but the end of the day you always come back to your home.
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