JOIN USDU finds favour with foreigners
Delhi University has seen a surge in the number of foreign students over the years, with students now coming in from far-off African and post-Soviet countries.
According to DU foreign registration office, 1,379 foreign students from almost 60 countries enrolled this year, against 1,184 in 2014-15, 1,030 in 2013-14, and 1,027 in 2012-13.
Students from Belarus, Eritrea and Lesotho are amongst the first from their country to be studying in DU.
“India’s ethos is such that everyone feels wanted, desired,” Amrit Kaur Basra, head of DU’s foreign registration office, said.
“DU offers a sprawling campus, security for students and adequate hostel facility. Besides this, we ensure that there are no procedural aberrations or delays,” she adds, explaining the reason behind the rising numbers.
The university receives a regular flow of students from Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries such as Afghanistan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Iraq.
Students from the India diaspora abroad are also heading to the national capital for a DU degree.
Earlier this year, the university had received over 2,600 foreign applications amid increase in number of applicants for 54,000 undergraduate seats in varsity-affiliated colleges.
Almost 540 out the 1,379 foreign students enrolled this year are studying undergraduate courses. University officials say most of the undergrad students tend to pursue their postgraduate and doctoral degrees in India.
“Sometimes, the university gets fanciful queries. A couple from Iran’s Kurdistan Province, who are not well versed in English, wanted to know about the admission procedure here. I think it was the husband who wanted admission in an undergraduate course,” a university official said.
DU has no dearth of vacancies for foreign nationals. All varsity departments and its affiliated colleges have five per cent “supernumerary” quota for foreign national – meaning, they can admit five per cent more students than their sanctioned strength.