Rural Indians join rush to study abroad as prospects dim at home
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Loading... - Marcia Pereira
- 07 Sep 2022
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When 19-year-old Sachin failed to score the grades he needed to get into a good Indian college, his father, a small shopkeeper, took a loan and dug deep into the family savings to help him secure a Canadian student visa.
The 2 million rupees ($25,035) they scraped together covered the fees for English language tuition provided by Western Overseas, one of dozens of visa consultancies in Ambala, about 250km from of New Delhi, that promise better lives through study overseas.
"My dream is to settle abroad as I see no future in India," said Sachin, who uses only a single name. He now plans to fly to Canada where he hopes to complete a two-year diploma in business management and eventually secure a longer work visa.
While middle-class Indians have for decades sought better prospects in other countries, worsening economic conditions are now driving families from poorer rural areas like Sachin's to make big investments to set up new lives for their children overseas. Read More...
