A recent survey came out with a startling revelation that students are now increasingly thinking of pursuing their higher studies in their home country than going abroad.
Around 68 percent of over 3,000 students between class 11 and class 12 said that they preferred higher education in their home country, which is a sharp increase of 24 percent from last year, indicated the Student Quest Survey report by International College Counseling (IC3) Institute.
The IC3 Institute, a volunteer organisation, backs high schools around the world through guidance and training resources for high school administrators, teachers and counsellors.
The survey, conducted between June and July in collaboration with Shiv Nadar University, took into consideration over 6,600 students between class 9 and class 12 from 2,000 schools across India and South Asia, examined the dynamics of students’ decision-making process for higher education.
The report suggested that only 25 percent of the total students have plans to go abroad for higher education. This means it is 4 percent lower than the previous year.
Among the students of class 9 and class 10, about 49 percent respondents said they preferred to study in their home countries, whereas 24 percent remained undecided, suggested the report, highlighting the significance of counselling in early grades and making the right decision from the information available to students because they need to review their options.
As the report indicated, students begin thinking about their career and job prospects early from their high school days.
“71% of the students have already started thinking about their future employment. The top three factors in picking a university include the institution’s placement record, rankings, program design and the quality of faculty members,” the report stated.
It emphasised that the quality of faculty for choosing a university was very low among class 9 and class 10 students, whereas for the students of class 11 and class 12 the issue was of paramount significance.
For about 35 percent of the respondents, choosing a program of their interest is vital. However, 27 percent of students would choose a course, looking at the future job prospects, while 21 percent would like to study a course from their perceived strength in a particular area of study, the report stated.
A massive percentage of students (83) chose to pursue their higher studies overseas because of the “quality of education” on offer.
