Exams not compulsory before admission into Indian universities

  Representatives of Indian universities have disclosed that Indian government has an education policy to admit 15 per cent African students yearly into their various universities which have 17 million capacity adding that examination is not compulsory.

 Last weekend, no fewer than 12 Indian universities and institutions of higher learning were in Nigeria to showcase their graduate and post-graduate courses in engineering, medicine and other programmes to eligible students.

 The invitation came at a time when Nigerian institutions could only accommodate 550,000 students out of 1.7million students who sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME. Speaking at the official opening of the exhibition titled: India Education Expo-2013, Mr Mahesh Sachdev, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria disclosed that with 550 universities and 17 million students, India is today world’s largest English-language higher education system.

 He explained that Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi for example is world’s largest with over 3.5 million students noting that prestigious Indian education providers such as Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Sciences are acknowledged to be among world’s best.

 “I am convinced that India has all that it takes to be a good partner of Nigeria in this vital sector,” he said.

 In spite of the 17 million students in 550 universities, Indian education policy nevertheless states that 15 per cent of those seats be reserved for international students.

 The reason, he noted is to create an enabling environment where their students can learn from other countries’ culture.

 According to the High Commissioner, the number of Nigerian students going to India has been surging since 2012 exhibition pointing out that over 1,200 Nigerians went to India to study, predicting an increase this year following the exhibition.

 Mrs Anita Charles, Head, International Relations of Galgotias University, Mr. Samiullah Khan, Head, Middle East and Africa, SRM University and Anita Patankar, Director, Symbiosis International University spoke in one voice saying that students from Africa do not need to sit for any examination before admission in their university noting that if any student has a 50 per cent credit in either NECO or WAEC, such will be admitted into any Indian university of their choice.