UoM sees a fall in number of foreign students

 The heritage city, which is considered among the top five cities in country attracting international students wanting to pursue higher education, is losing its sheen. The number of students coming to University of Mysore, has seen a gradual fall.

The reasons are said to be stringent visa norms, colleges under UoM becoming autonomous, emergence of new universities in their respective countries, atrocities against women/attacks on foreigners, and high education cost.

According to the records, in the year 2011, the city had 3,200 foreign students. This number dropped to 3,094 in the year 2012. There was a further dip in the year 2013, when the numbers decreased to 2,734. 

UoM had been a popular destination for global students, who come from at least 53 countries to study under graduate (UG) and post graduate (PG) courses. In all, the city has foreign nationals from 92 countries, studying law, medicine and paramedical courses in different private colleges. The students are in the city between three and five years.Explaining the reason behind the fall in numbers, R Indira, Chairperson, International Centre, UoM, said that there were multiple factors involved. “Due to strict visa regulations, students these days do not opt for foreign education. It is a herculean process at the entry point itself.”

Autonomy

Also, more and more colleges under UoM, are obtaining autonomous status. Foreign countries don’t accept the convocation and degree certificates from such autonomous colleges, as they don’t find it to be genuine, she said.

K V Prabhakara, Principal, SBRR Mahajana First Grade College agreed that the autonomous trend and alternative universities in other nations had resulted in the dip in the numbers. He said that three years ago there were 150 foreign students in the college, which had currently come down to 113 students. The institution has students from around 20 countries, and a majority are from Tanzania, Maldives and Iran.

ICCR funding

Also, with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) changing its funding pattern, hundreds of from countries like Iran, Tanzania and Kenya, are finding it difficult to avail foreign education.

There was a sizable number of Maldivian students till last year. But, following the establishment of an university in Maldives, admissions of students from that country slightly declined at UoM. There are 425 Maldivian student in the city, presently.  

Indira said that Pune hosts the highest number of foreign students, followed by Osmania University in Hyderabad. Nearly 10,000 students pursue higher education in Pune, and over 4,000 in Hyderabad. Even Chennai is attracting foreign students. “However, Mysore is still ranked fifth in drawing foreign students,” she stated.

Competition to UoM

JSS University Registrar, B Manjunath said that this year, the number of international students had increased from 10 to 90. He said that around 67 students from Namibia, and around 15 students from Malaysia had enroled into medical courses under a sponsorship programme.