Saturday 23 December 2017

International students entering Canada up 22%

The number of international students seeking a Canadian education continues to grow sharply, with Canada’s immigration division IRCC revealing a 22% increase in students who entered Canada last year.


Speaking at the recent CBIE conference in Halifax, IRCC policy analyst Angie Larocque reported that 268,631 international students entered Canada in 2016.

It was also revealed that the total number of study permit holders in Canada as of 31 December 2016 was 414,946, up from 351,330 (an 18% increase) in 2015. 

“The number of international students coming to Canada continues to grow,” said Laroque.

India was the biggest single source of growth with an increase of 27,810 (57%)


“Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in student applications – even increases of 100% in some markets.”

She added that fastest-growing source markets were China and India, which represented 49% of all new student entries in 2016, and welcomed additional visa application centers in key markets such as China to aid with processing times.

According to IRCC, India was the biggest single source of growth with an increase of 27,810 (57%) students with a valid permit as of December 2016.

The IRCC top 20 sending markets for Canadian education

In October, Canada came out on top of an IDP research paper on global study destinations, due to its safe environment and policies which are seen as warm and welcoming.

While international students numbers in Canada continue to surge, the latest IIE Open Doors survey released last week revealed that US universities reported a decline in international students enrollments for 2016/17, prompting reference to the policies and rhetoric of the current US administration.

Despite political events south of the border, Canadian educators maintain it is their strengths, not US weaknesses, that has led to these increases.

At Aliff Overseas Consultant  we offer a full suite of study abroad counselling services:
  • Course and university selection
  • Academic profile evaluation
  • Submission of admission applications
  • Visa application assistance, visa-counselling and mock-interviews
  • IELTS/TOEFL training
  • Pre-departure guidance and assistance in terms of private accommodation recommendations in select countries.

Monday 4 December 2017

Govt Will Shut 300 Private Engineering Colleges

It had to happen sooner rather than later. The government has decided to shut over 300 private engineering from the 2018-19 academic session. These institutions would be asked not to undertake admission process for any fresh batch as they had less than 30 per cent enrollment for five consecutive years. According to a senior HRD official, another 500 engineering colleges are under the scanner for not being able to fill up seats.


The All India Council for Technical Education has asked all such colleges to consider alternate options like converting to science colleges or vocational education institutions. As per AICTE website, there are close to 3,000 private engineering colleges offering undergraduate courses in India, with an intake capacity of 13.56 lakh. Of these, there are around 800 engineering colleges whose enrolment percentage is less than 50%.

According to HRD sources, of the over 300 institutions which would be asked to close operations as engineering colleges, over 150 have less than 20% enrolment.

According to the chairperson of the AICTE, the council has asked those colleges with less than 30% enrolment to work out alternate options. Stating that closing down the institutions could also lead to problems for the institutions, professor Anil D Sahasrabudhe, chairperson, AICTE said, "We are deliberating on the issue. Closure is an easy option, but that could also lead to many complications as they have invested money, have bank loans. Taking a holistic view, those institutions which are border line cases may not be asked to close down but they will be asked to choose alternate options on their own."

The Council would give options like converting the engineering colleges to science colleges, skill development centres or vocational education institutions. The matter will be finalised by end of December 2017. before the approvals are issued to the colleges.

Is the great Engineering dream dying?


In terms of employment opportunities, especially in the field of IT and engineering, Indian students certainly have an edge over others with a majority of them holding engineering degrees. “This combined with Germany’s constant demand for engineers is a win-win for both Germany and Indian students.