France to offer more seats for Indian students

NEW DELHI: Educational ties between India and France are very high on the agenda of the French Presidential delegation. Valerie Pecresse, French minister of higher education, who is part of the delegation, told ET that efforts are on by her government to hike the number of Indian students in France, from the current level of 1,700 to at least three times that number every year.

“To make France a more attractive destination for Indian students, we have recently eased the work permit rules whereby students who finish a course in France can stay back for six months to look for a job on their existing student visas. And, once they get a job their work permits will be processed while they remain in France,” Ms Pecresse told ET.

She added that the French government was also funding French language courses for students in India who wished to go to France for higher education to enable better cultural integration. Work permit rules are likely to be eased further for Indian students in France in the coming months, the minister, who is on her second state visit to India, said.

The Indo-French Consortium of Universities, which has been announced during the French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit, will establish joint doctorate and masters degrees between universities in the two countries and will also try to create twinning programmes.

“France has many well-known institutions for engineering and technology and we’re trying to reach out to Indian students in these disciplines. We hope to position France as a centre for higher education and research in various fields of science and technology among Indian students who are planning to study overseas,” Patrick Chezaud, president of Universite Stendhal and one of the architects of new consortium told ET.

Even as authorities on both sides are working on mutual recognition of qualifications and joint degree programmes, the French embassy in India has announced 40 new incentive grants that will be reserved for masters students who go to France as part of the programmes established under the new consortium.

The French education ministry will also fund air fares for French students and faculty members to visit India under the programme.