“There is another new disease among children going abroad. Parents do not get counselling for studies abroad. The child eagerly wants to go. He sees a new dream and feels that he will find heaven as soon as he goes there,” said Dhankhar, while addressing students at the Sobhasaria Group of Institutions in the Northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan.
“There is no assessment as to which institution he is going to, which country he is going to, there is just a blind path that I have to go abroad. You will be surprised, boys and girls between the ages of 18 to 25 get influenced by advertisements.”
With the number of Indian international students increasing from 13,18,955 in 2023 to 13,35,878 in 2024, Dhankhar stated that their “future is being assessed”.
Dhankhar’s comments, part of a long list of controversial remarks he has made while in office, have not gone down well with stakeholders from India’s international education industry.
“It is important to recognise that students pursuing higher education abroad are doing so to gain exposure to diverse educational systems, cutting-edge research opportunities, and global networks that may not always be accessible within the country,” Karan Gupta, founder, Karan Gupta Education Foundation, told The PIE News.
“Labelling it a ‘disease’ fails to appreciate the personal and professional growth many of these students experience, which they often bring back to benefit India. Education should be seen as a way to expand horizons, and dismissing it this way undermines that potential.”
According to Gupta, while there are instances of students not assessing institutions or study destinations thoroughly, it’s not commonplace.
“With the wealth of information available online and through ethical and well educated counsellors, students today are far more informed about their options,” said Gupta.
“In my experience, they research universities extensively, considering factors like academic reputation, career opportunities, campus culture, and financial considerations.”
Education should be seen as a way to expand horizons, and dismissing it this way undermines that potential
Karan Gupta, Karan Gupta Education Foundation
Jairam Ramesh, a member of parliament from the opposition political party, Indian National Congress, said that the current education system’s conditions have led to students going abroad.
“Students go abroad now for many reasons. The CUET drives many youngsters away. The gaps in quality of education and professional opportunities are all too apparent. The way many of these institutions are run are a turn off,” tweeted Ramesh on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Students going abroad is not the disease, it’s merely a symptom of a diseased education system, one that is getting worse by political interference.”
Dhankhar’s comments come just months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India wants to build an education system that would prevent students from going abroad.
“We want to build such an education system in India that youngsters do not need to go abroad to study. In fact, we would want foreign students to come here and study,” stated Modi, during India’s Independence Day celebrations.
According to a breakdown from the Reserve Bank of India’s quarterly balance of payments data, the growing inclination of Indian students to pursue education abroad has led to a $6 billion deficit in the country.
“They have created a USD$6bn hole in our foreign exchange. Imagine if these $6bn were funnelled into improving the infrastructure of educational institutions here, what would have been our condition? A lot of attention is being paid to this. This is the loss of foreign exchange,” stated Dhankhar.
Gupta questioned Dhankhar’s allegations by highlighting that Indian students contribute far more to the country’s economy once they start working back in India than they spend on their education abroad.
“Many students return home with advanced skills, global networks, and innovative ideas that contribute to the economy. Has the VP taken into account the remittances that Indians working abroad send back home each year? A whopping $107bn.”
Terming the deficit a “forex drain”, Dhankhar told the audience that Indian institutions must make students aware of “foreign conditions”.
“Tell them, what is the ranking of the institution in which you are taking admission into, what is its status?” the VP said.
“And along with this, we should take a very big revolutionary step that whoever is capable, with the intention of giving to the society, based on that policy, with a clean mind, should build institutions in Tier 2 and 3 towns and in rural areas. This will be a big change for the country.”
But stakeholders believe Dhankhar’s own history with overseas education in his family makes him a ‘hypocrite’.
“This occupant of Indian VP chair is well known to those from West Bengal as a hypocrite and when he addressed the students at a private college, his hypocrisy was in full display,” said Ravi Lochan Singh, managing director, Global Reach and former president, AAERI.
“We now learn that his daughter graduated from Beever College (now Arcadia University) in USA. She had Summer Courses in the UK, Italy and Australia. She had a stint as a student of photography with the Goldsmiths University in UK.
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