Studying Abroad

 Going to the U.S. or the U.K. or any other country for further studies is a fad these days. Why, people are ready to go to Ireland for further studies! Is this trend worth it at all?

The American or British or Irish, or whatever, universities do love this trend. Well, a solid chunk of their finances comes from foreign, mostly Indian, students! Actually studying abroad is a very expensive proposition. 

Beginning with the TOEFL/the GRE, and the tuition classes for these, to the actual applications for at least five universities, everything is hyper costly. Once selected, which does happen rather easily as the universities abroad do want such fund generation, the astronomical fees, the board and lodging there, everything is expensive. 

After that pricey education, what is the future? A family friend of ours has both her children study in the U.S. and settle there. Her daughter, a top ranker here, has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. Yet the research grant she has managed is, informs her mother,  minimal. One can just scrape through. The son, with an M.S., constantly has to go for the search for relevant jobs.

People pretend that these stark realities do not exist. The facts cannot be hidden though. Why, to give an example, recently Sundar Pichai declared that twelve thousand I/T workers are not needed. In this context, it must be remembered that the Indians, now going there, are not exactly the best or the bright here, too. In the 60's and the 70's, it really was brain drain. The best Indian students went abroad, and were lost to the American dream.

Currently, it is the 'parents have money, children study abroad' phenomenon. Ordinary students here scrape through the courses there, and are the fodder for cheap labour in the sense that they are happy with the minimum wages with the constant 'pink slips' every Friday, and so obviously are the companies. The job situation is indeed tough, what with the AI.

What is the solution? May be, allowing foreign universities campuses here? That tough competition would make the sluggish Indian education system wake up which would be finally good for the students. India would retain a lot of its educational seed money, currently lost to universities abroad.

Till that happens, people who can splurge twenty lakhs per year would send their wards abroad to prepare cheap labour market there. Macaulay must be giggling in his grave!

Pratima@ Realities most often are as scary as nightmares!