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France is looking to double the number of Indian students going to the country for higher education in the next few years by making travel and living there easier and more accessible.
“We have nine officers in India talking to universities about studying in France. We have also simplified our visa procedures so that it is easier for students,” Mr Jerome Bonnafont, Ambassador of France to India, told Business Line .
Around four years ago, the number of Indian students in France was 400, while at present it is 2,000. Most Indian students going to France prefer courses on business management, engineering, science, medicine and humanities, he said.
Representatives of the country are speaking to various universities in India to be able to design and provide precise and fine-tuned courses especially for Indian students.
“Currently, 100 memoranda of understanding between French universities and their Indian counterparts are in place and we are trying to activate them,” said Mr Bonnafont.
France allows a graduate student to stay on for six months and look for a job. If the student is able to find a job within the stipulated period of time, then a job permit is automatically generated, he explained.
Meet on astronomy
He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on astronomy where Dr Sylvain Bouley, Vice-President, Uranoscope de France, presented a C11 telescope to the BM Birla Science Centre in Hyderabad.
A dedicated public observatory is coming up in Hyderabad for the first time in India that will allow lay persons to walk in and explore, said Dr B.G. Sidharth, Director, International Institute of Applied and Information Sciences, Hyderabad and Udine, Italy.
An observatory outside the city limits in a rural area is on the cards for astronomical research, he added.
Stress on Innovation
“We need innovation in all fields of education, health, governance, infrastructure to beat the challenges we face. India is going to invest close to $20 billion in the next five to seven years to build new public infrastructure in communications. It is one thing to explore the skies and quite another to use that to explore opportunities here, on the ground below,” said Mr Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations.
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