In last four to five years, number of Kerala students opting for higher education abroad has doubled

The number of students from Kerala going abroad for higher studies has more than doubled to over 30,000 in the last four-five years with most of them exploring opportunities in Canada, the UK and Australia.

According to industry officials, most students are going for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Canada is most preferred as it allows them post-study work and stay back or settle in the country as a worker for full time up to three years after they qualify from an institution there. The UK is also high among the preferred destination as it allows two-year 'stay-back' that allows them to find work there.

"In recent days, we have facilitated student visas for 6,000 youngsters for Canada, and another 4,500 for the UK from Kerala," said Denny Thomas Vattakunnel, CMD of Santamonica Study Abroad, a leading overseas education consultant. Australia and New Zealand are the other countries where students from Kerala are opting for higher studies, he said.

Students from the state are also studying in other countries like Ukraine (about 2,000) and China, especially Wuhan (about 500-600) — both coming to the notice after the war and the outbreak of COVID, respectively.

Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan, in a speech in the state assembly, termed the rising exodus of students for higher studies abroad "worrying". The students and their parents are taking education loans starting from Rs 8 lakh and going up to Rs 35-45 lakh/person, he said.

In the same vein, Tony Thomas, chief digital and information officer, of Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), a Dutch lighting MNC, said what's happening in Kerala is "competency dilution", which includes brain drain, distress migration, and migration in search of jobs. While this is happening, Kerala is also attracting migrant workforce from other states that are not competency based. In other words, migration into Kerala are for low-skilled jobs. "This is pulling the state backwards," he said in a Facebook post.

According to the latest statistics by State Level Bankers Conference (SLBC), the total outstanding education loans in banks in Kerala have gone up from Rs 9,841 crore in March 2019 to Rs 11,061 crore in March 2022. "Kerala is a big market for us," said an official of Edwise International, an overseas education consultant.

Vattakunnel of Santamonica said a large number of students from Kerala are depending on education loans for overseas education due to the weak financial situation at home. "Students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have the financial backing from their families whereas our students have to depend on loans from banks," he said, adding that his firm is also helping students to get loans from banks such as State Bank of India and ICICI.

"Banks are confident about repayment as we have been in the business for the last several years. The repayment is nearly 98%. There could be an odd student who may waste his years abroad, but most students are determined and complete the course and get a job there," he said. The SLBC figures attest to this. The non-performing assets (NPAs) in the education loan segment have come down to Rs 922 crore from Rs 1,346 crore in March 2019. Education loan NPA constitutes a nominal 4.9% of total banking sector NPAs in Kerala.