More students will go to UK for higher studies

Chennai, Feb 26 (UNI) The two-day UK education fair commenced here today with a huge response, as it showed more number of students are willing to go to United Kingdom for their higher studies.

More than 2,000 students participated in the fair on the inaugural day.

Head-Education UK (South India) L Dhanasekaran told newsmen that more than 17,000 students from India go to the UK for studies every year and he said this number was expected to increase to more than 26,000 by 2010, according to a study on global student mobility vision 2020.

He also stated that 60 Universities and 100 representatives are participitating in the fair.

Usually most of the students show interest in courses like MBA, IT, electronics and communication engineering, electrical and electronics engineering and computer science engineering. But this year, many students were enquiring about courses in Bio-technology and Bio-informatics, he added.

He said this year, the students were shifting from technology to applied technology. ''The biggest advantage in UK is that a student could study post graduate course in just one year, against the two year period in India. Lot of doctors are flying to UK for pursuing their higher education,'' he added.

Mr Steve Berridge, International Marketing Manager, University of Westminster, said, ''We have two intakes per year, September and January with 150 students from India per year. The University offers 300 courses with various specialisations. Most of the students enrol with us for courses in computer science and bio-technology.'' Ms Anna Murray, Head of School of Hotel, Leisure and Tourism, University of Ulster, said, ''Ours is a new university and last year we came to India and admitted 50 students for various courses. This year we expect to admit more number of students. The four-year undergraduate students are given an opportunity to work in an industry with a stipend.'' UNI RV ROY MP BD1931