CHENNAI: Education UK has noticed a perceptible increase in the number of students from India taking up higher education courses in the universities located in Britain. While the exact numbers were yet to be collated, the increase is understood to be quite sharp, said L Dhanasekaran, Head of Education UK (South India).Speaking to Express at the Education UK Exhibition 2012 organised by the British Council here on Sunday, Dhanasekaran said that parents now see UK as a destination to send their children for higher studies as the duration for professional courses was three years only. “Commerce courses have the highest demand but since that stream is not available, they opt for business administration,” he added.Another reason could be that fewer UK students sought scholarships for under graduation courses. “This means Indian students have more opportunities. Most scholarships are based on merit so a part of the tuition fee can be easily handled,” he said.When asked how the new visa restrictions have affected the response to the annual education fair, Dhanasekaran said, “We definitely see that the quality of students have gone up. This is because visas are approved only for those applying to colleges on UK’s Border Agency list. In a way, the restrictions help prevent brain drain from India.”The formerly two-day education exhibition was now a one-day affair and showcased 58 colleges. Observing that students have now become more informed, Dhanasekaran said, “They do their homework and they extract information they exactly want from the delegates.”Madhav, a EEE graduate, came prepared. “I want to make an informed decision and the Border Agency’s list of reputable colleges made it that much easier for me to figure out what I want.”
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