INDIAN enrolments are declining worldwide as key education exporters clamp down on migration and work rules.
BY:JOHN ROSS
Australian-based agent Ravi Lochan Singh said “fresh” Indian enrolments in the five key English-language destinations had crashed to 40 per cent of their 2009 peak, and would fall further this year.
He predicted that the five countries – the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – would collectively enrol 55,000 new students from India this year. This equates to the number that flocked to Australia alone in 2009, when over 150,000 Indians commenced studies in the five countries.
Mr Singh said expert claims about the “huge Indian market and its growth rate” were overblown, and that Australia could expect about 10,000 new enrolments this year – the “right upper limit” for Australia, he added.
He said the factors contributing to the shrinking market included the fluctuating global economy, the “restricted reach” of Indian education loans, expanding educational opportunities in India, and localised events such as the Christchurch earthquakes.
But he said the primary reason was that a large proportion had never been “genuine” students, and rule changes such as the skilled migration clampdown in Australia and curtailed work rights in the UK had made it harder for them to get what they really wanted.
Mr Singh predicted that Australia would be the only country to see new Indian enrolments increase this year, thanks to the new streamlined visa processing system.
Enrolments would continue to plummet in the UK while the US would see a continuation of the modest slide of the past few years – a result of the strengthening dollar and a paucity of scholarships in the US.
Canada would experience a “correction” of the recent enrolment growth – which Mr Singh was too reliant on migration – while New Zealand would suffer from the lack of a coherent strategy to attract Indian enrolments, he said.
————————————————————————-
This article is sourced from following blogs which carry country wise details and reasons.
RLS's Blog 
Congratulations Ravi. An Australian media commentator.
LikeLike
Thanks Mate… It is just that I tend to speak my mind at all times… Mostly backed by realism and not bias…
LikeLike
Hi Ravi, I hope the Australian universities are making a note of your comments. With the impending cuts, Australian universities may be banking on making up their budget cuts through revenue raising initiatives, which ought to be done. However, making a realistic assessment of how many students India may provide, would be a useful exercise based on expert opinion from people like you who have an ear to the ground. Many universities still make a mistake of depending heavily on global student movement projections to set their own targets while ignoring useful insights which are available from experts like you. Well done. Keep on at it.
LikeLike
Victor, I am sure that the Universities and the so-called and oft-quoted experts are noticing what THE AUSTRALIAN has been reporting… Honestly, there is a message for all destinations here. US gets nowhere the kind of numbers that are often reported. UK fall continues. Canada has already received student numbers beyond what it can absorb and of mixed quality. NZ needs to fix its house in order… Also what happened to all the students… Certainly 150000 cannot become 50000 in 4 years. Possibly the extra were not students at all and were workers in the garb of students who had simply used the student visa to reach the various countries… Australia or UK…
LikeLike