Germany invites Indian students

The German government has launched a big initiative to attract more students from India under the Year of Germany and India 2011-2012 programme.

"Euro 6 million has been set aside under the programme which is sponsored by our foreign office, Goethe Institute, the Asia-Pacific committee of German business and the federal ministry of education and research. Another Euro 6 million will come from our industry partners. We will highlight various areas of higher education in Germany with a focus on research to Indian students and scholars. The idea is to make German institutions more widely known among young Indians so that they find them attractive destination for education," Jens Buntjen, counsellor in the federal foreign office of Germany, responsible for the German science year in India, told ET.

The German government is now making an effort to reach out to a specific target group in India to make the idea of studying, living and working in Germany more attractive to them. "The core group that we are particularly reaching out to is the English-speaking and academic community between 20 and 40 years. This is a socially dynamic and career oriented younger segment of Indians, who we hope to attract to Germany for higher studies to begin with," Mr Buntjen said. Working with the German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD, the government will highlight courses in science, technology and liberal arts which are available in English across German universities and the increasing international dimension in German higher education.

The fact that there are job opportunities available for international students after they finish their education in Germany and that a very deep knowledge of German language is not essential to live, work and study there are also being highlighted. The global lifestyle of students in cities which play host to Germany's prominent universities and research facilities is being show-cased as part of the initiative to attract Indian students.

Source: Economic Times