Mumbai: Many students’ hopes of pursuing higher education abroad were dashed in 2020 thanks to the raging COVID-19 pandemic in India. A mere 2.6 lakh visas were processed last year in comparison with 5.9 lakh in 2019.
States like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab that traditionally witness the largest cohorts of aspirants for international degrees cut a sorry figure.
According to the most recent data, students who attended classes online or deferred admissions by a year opted for the Spring entry in 2021.
The first couple of months of the year witnessed a total of 71,769 visas being processed. Out of which, only 11,790 visas were issued to students from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra’s 10,166.
“State-wise figures are difficult to ascertain as a student domiciled in one state could have departed from another state,” the Bureau of Immigration stated.
According to the data on the issuance of passports, the number of Indian students from various corners had increased from 3.7 lakh in 2016 to 5.9 lakh three years later in 2019. However, the number nosedived in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions. Based on a 2014 study, Hyderabad and Mumbai are among the top ten source hometowns of students going to the United States.
“For six months last year, travel was completely closed and once we saw certain countries opening up, people were reluctant to move. The 2021 numbers were not significantly high in the initial months,” education counsellor Maria Mathais was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
“In the last two years, students have moved out at different points in time. Some pursued their education online and left when they could as universities were flexible regarding entry. Also, some smaller East European nations have not yet opened up,” counsellor Karan Gupta told the publication.
“These visa numbers are definitely going to rise,” hopes Gupta.
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