INDIA

Poor higher education forcing students abroad – Study

In the absence of quality higher education and with none of the Indian Institutes of Technology making it into the rankings of the world's top research institutions, Indian students spend US$6-7 billion (approximately Rs45,000 crore) annually in seeking greener pastures in foreign universities, writes Anuradha Himatsingka for The Economic Times.

This was according to a joint study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and Tata Institute of Social Sciences on “Realigning Skilling Towards Make in India”, part of which noted: "Indians spend about $6-7 billion every year in sending their children abroad for higher education. Only a miniscule number of them choose to return home. It is not just the elite who spend generously on a good education and credentials; middle-class families also spend their life-time savings to educate their children abroad."

While the much-touted Indian Institutes of Technology have an annual enrolment of 10,000-15,000, and focus only on the brightest of the bright, not a single great worldwide patent has emerged, nor have they produced a single Nobel Laureate. The study also said India fares poorly as far as its rankings in the field of patents and new start-ups in technology and innovation are concerned.
Full report on The Economic Times site