New Delhi: The number of Indian students in Russia must grow from the current 20,000, Russian envoy Denis Alipov said Thursday.
Speaking at the inauguration of the first-ever India-Russia Education summit — a three-day programme that will see the participation of over 60 Russian universities in India — Alipov said: “This figure can and must grow. A positive development is the steady increase of scholarships by the Russian government, which is expected to grow from the current 200 to 500 specifically allocated for Indians.”
Though the number of Indians in Russia is about one-tenth the figure in countries like the US, the Russian government has been making a concerted push to attract more students, especially in medical and technological studies. One of these initiatives is increasing the scholarships the Russian government gives Indian students.
Alipov also said that the scientific cooperation between India and Russia has the potential to make strides.
“The scope is endless and, in many instances, is untapped or underexplored starting from the Arctic research on nuclear science, chemistry, biotechnology, and life sciences to engineering and boundless opportunities,” he added.
Also speaking at the event, Pradeep Kumar Gupta, chancellor of the Noida-based Sharda University, suggested that joint scientific cooperation between the two countries could include the exploration of prosthetic implants for Russian soldiers injured in the war in Ukraine.
“There are a large number of soldiers who have been hurt and they are struggling to get implants for those war victims. We can explore joint work for Russian soldiers at Sharda University,” he said.
Sharda University offers student exchanges with two Russian universities — Ural Federal University and Financial University.
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Foreign campuses & language barrier
Russian universities could also leverage the Narendra Modi government’s National Education Policy (2020) which allows foreign universities to establish international branch campuses in the country, Gupta suggested.
In January, Australia’s Deakin University became the first foreign university to open a campus in India at GIFT City in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar district.
The Russian ambassador also noted that discussions on joint education and research will take place under the BRICS umbrella.
Later this year, Russia will take up the presidency of BRICS — a grouping comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE.
However, the ambassador also urged India and Russia to make “extra efforts” to address a major unresolved problem of mutual recognition of education between the two countries.
Asked how Indians studying in Russia can overcome language barriers, a lecturer from the country’s Krasnoyarsk State Medical University said hands-on experience in hospitals and dedicated Russian language courses could help.
“Our students practice working with patients at hospitals from the very first semester and the patients, of course, speak only Russian. Indian students at our university study fully in English (they have lectures and practical classes in English), but also they have classes in the Russian language. This is necessary for them to be able to do the practice at hospitals,” Ekaterina Andriushkina, senior lecturer at the Krasnoyarsk State Medical University’s Department of Latin and Foreign Languages, told ThePrint.
There are 51 Indian students at this university out of roughly 400 international students.
Also Read: Number of Indian students in Russia must grow, says ambassador Denis Alipov