Higher Education Forum focuses on Indian international students
The education sector has emerged as priority sector for both Canada and India, says Ajit Someshwar, chair of Canada India Foundation (CIF), which organized a Higher Education Forum July 5-6, 2018, at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton, Ontario. In fact, the sector is worth $20 billion annually in Canada, he says.
In 2018, more than 120,000 international students from India are choosing Canada for their higher education needs, making Canada the fourth most popular destination for Indian students seeking higher education.
The one-and-a-half-day event consisted of several panel discussions, with a focus on challenges and expectations faced by international students from India.
Canadian Immigrant was at the forum to hear what international students from India had to say about their experiences in Canada.
Three Indian international students’ experiences in Canada
Perminder Singh, student ambassador at Sheridan College, came to Canada from India in December 2016 and he was initially planning to study the environmental technician program, which was his family’s choice for him. But he later switched to business-human resources and to him there were lots of opportunities waiting for him in Canada, including working at many positions at Sheridan College, some of which were paid and others were co-curricular based. He likes Canada for its multicultural society and he has had some fun in mingling with students from other cultures. Graduated in April 2018, he’s busy preparing his resumé and building networks. He believes in hard work and he hopes this will be a pathway for him to immigrating to Canada.
Prince Barpaga, a student at York University, was born in India and raised in Italy. He got his bachelor of commerce in India and then worked two years to save money so he could come to Canada in 2015 and pay his tuition fees by himself. He first studied in the global business management post graduate program at Humber College. Currently, he is studying at York University with a dream of working in the field of artificial intelligence. He likes Canada very much because “you can do what you want and you don’t have to concern what others think about you as in India,” he said. “But in India, it’s easy to find a job while in Canada, it’s a big challenge.”
Ashish Agrawal, now director of product engineering at AT&T, came to Canada as an international student in 2004 with a degree in computer application from India. His sister helped select York University’s Computer Science. While studying at York University in computer science, he filed his application for permanent residence and with a file number he was able to pay the same tuition as domestic students. But not many of his fellow students were aware of this policy at York.
Devika Penekelapati, now a lawyer in Toronto, came to study law at McGill University in Montreal as an international student in 1998. For her, it’s very important to get prepared to integrate into the mainstream Canadian society. Compared with her experience in India, where her father is also a lawyer, she likes Canada much more because we have freedom of speech and equal opportunities. And the legal system in Canada has no discrimination against anyone. And Canada has more advanced teaching methodology so that students can work on their own independently.