Indian students applying to Eastern Europe over China amid uncertainty: Rpt

Instead of China, Indian students are now increasingly applying to countries in Eastern Europe like Poland, Belarus and Georgia. The primary reason for this are the strict lockdowns in China under its Zero-Covid policy that have been going on for over two years now, a report in the Economic Times (ET) said. 

"Given the huge problems faced by Indian students due to Xi's (Chinese president Xi Jinping) 'Zero Covid' policy, Indian students are not keen on studying in China anymore...They are looking at cheap medical courses in Eastern Europe in countries such as Poland, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and so on. Parents are worried about the safety of their children and hence are actively discouraging students from studying in China," Karan Gupta, founder of study abroad career consultant Karan Gupta Consulting, told ET. 

China has opened its borders to international students recently but the current political situation has impacted the admission rates in Chinese universities negatively. 

"Considering the current political scenario in China, we strongly believe that it is not a wise decision to invest your time and finances into pursuing your further education at a Chinese university...The current situation is not conducive to pursuing an education in China and students stand to incur heavy financial losses if the political situation worsens and if they are forced to return to their home countries," Vibha Kagzi, founder of ReachIvy.com told ET. 

Kagzi further said that the company was advising students to go to East Asian countries like Japan, South Korea and Singapore as they had much better educational and career prospects as compared to China.