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Amid Coronavirus Scare, A Look At Why China Woos Indian Students

As per estimates, there are 23,000 Indian students in China. But what about the country attracts Indians each year?

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The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China and the subsequent instances of evacuation of Indians from Wuhan has brought to focus the fairly large size of the Indian community residing in the neighbouring country, most of whom are students.

There are as many as 23,000 Indian students in China as of 2019, according to the estimates of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD). They make up a significant chunk of total number of international students studying in the Chinese higher education ecosystem, falling behind only South Korea, Thailand and Pakistan.

As per estimates, there are 23,000 Indian students in China. But what about the country attracts Indians each year?

So what is it that lures a large number of Indian students to prefer to study in China over their own country or any other foreign country? What are the downsides that might come with studying in a country which speaks a completely different language? And what effect has the coronavirus outbreak – with its evacuations and lockdown – had on academics for these Indian students? We attempt to find out.

Catch all the updates on the China coronavirus outbreak here.

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The Lure of Medicine

As the Indian Embassy in Beijing itself notes, “China has, in recent years, become one of the preferred destinations of Indian students for pursuing higher studies… mainly due to the ease of admission and inexpensive tuition fees.” The rise has been manifold – with one estimate noting an increase from 700 students in 2007 to over 22,000 students in 2019.

And the field that has become the most popular is medicine, with as much as 90 percent of Indian students in China pursuing their studies in the area. According to Madhurima Nundy, an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies in Delhi, the trend started taking shape from 2004, when China opened its doors for foreign students to study medicine.

Asked why the gaze among medical aspirants in India shifted to China, she tells The Quint, “It was a good option for those not qualifying the public medical college exams in India and for those who were unable to pay the exorbitant fees of the private medical colleges. The costs of studying in China are much cheaper than studying in private medical colleges in India and many other countries.”

The Chinese system is well regulated too. Every year, its Ministry of Education releases a list of authorised institutes where international students can enrol to study medicine in the English language. The list is also made available by the Medical Council of India on its website. The list for the year 2019-20 had 45 universities/colleges.

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The Downsides

While China’s popularity as a hub of medical education has exponentially risen, it’s not all hunky-dory.

Students getting their medical degree from foreign countries, like China, have to clear a screening test called Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) if they wish to practise medicine back in India. But the test has proven to be a pain-point for Indian students in China, with “observations over a period of time” indicating that “most students who failed the FMGE were from China”.

Nundy says that after such observations, quality control measures have been implemented by both the Indian and Chinese ministries in the last two years, which will result in a gradual decline in the number of students who wish to study medicine in China.

Consequently, some students are now looking towards Philippines as a preferred destination for medical education.

“The curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation of medical education for international students in China has been of concern… Once (students) reach China, they face several challenges mostly due to language barriers, content of the curriculum which is not as detailed as would be in a public medical college and quality of teaching due to the language barrier, even though classes are in English. The evaluation process is (also) not stringent enough.”
Madhurima Nundy to The Quint
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Going Beyond Medicine

But Chinese higher education is not all about medicine. A small number of Indian students also take up language studies and engineering courses, whose number can be expected to rise in the coming years.

Pursuing their studies from Beijing’s Tsinghua and Shanghai’s Tongji Universities respectively, Harnidh Kaur and Anayat Ali can be considered as exceptions who are not pursuing medicine in China. A PhD student of Civil Engineering, Anayat cites the high ranking of Chinese universities in global rankings as one of his reasons to study in China.

“IITs are the top institutes in India, but if we compare them globally, they are not there among the top universities. And to get admission in an IIT is a big deal. Because a lot of students apply and they have only a few seats. So it’s a lot more tough here to get admission. And it’s a lot more easier to get admission (in China),” he tells The Quint, raining praises on quality of the infrastructure, the faculty and the safety in China.

For Harnidh too, the Chinese experience has been nothing short of incredible. “The teachers are amazing, my cohort is amazing. Just being there (at the university) is really inspiring. It really pushes you… Generally, the thrust they have on good academics, good research, a holistic life for a student is incredible.”

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The Answer to the Coronavirus Impact – Online Classes?

Amid a virus lockdown in China, one would wonder as to how it has affected the higher education ecosystem in the country both in the short as well as the long term. After all, as Madhurima Nundy points out, “this is first time since China opened its educational institutions to foreign students in 2004 that an epidemic of this proportion has occurred” – the previous one of such proportion being SARS of 2003.

However, she goes on to say that while coronavirus might impact the decisions of future students to apply to China, the disruption will last only for a little while.

Meanwhile, the Chinese tenacity to overcome the fallout from the virus becomes evident by the fact that online classes have already started in places like the Tsinghua University and Tongji University.

Praising the functioning of Tsinghua University, Harnidh tells The Quint,“Our classes started on 17 February. We are having online classes and full assignments, we’re doing group projects. They’ve really harnessed the incredible ability of the university to make good tech to make it happen.”

On whether there are any downsides of studying online, she adds, “… Yes, it’s sort of surreal being in an online classroom. It might be 3 am in New York (for one batchmate) and 12:30 here, and you’re a little psyched out by that. But the fact that we are studying together and that we’re eventually going to align back to the work we are doing is very useful.”

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A similar sentiment of optimism is echoed by Anayat, who expects the administration to call them back within 1-2 weeks. Being a PhD student, while he hasn’t attended any of the online classes, he says that they are meant for Masters and Bachelors students at the varsity.

“Till now our studies haven’t been affected because we were having vacations till 17 February. They were planning to start classes on the 18th. But they have started conducting online classes… If there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that when it comes to technology, China is the best country, which actually uses technology,” he says.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:   China   Indian Students   Universities 

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