the covid19 outbreak has altered the plans of many students who were aspiring to study abroad this year along with study in india scheme the ministry of human resource development mhrd has now decided to focus on stay in india the move is aimed at helping students have decided to stay back to pursue higher education in india and indian students who have returned because of the pandemic the hrd minister ramesh pokhriyal nishank has constituted a committee headed by dp singh chairman of university grants commission ugc which will prepare guidelines and measures to strengthen both study in india and stay in india students who have returned to india in the middle of their courses are worried about their plans and many students have cancelled their plans for studying abroad because of covid19 initiatives are being designed to retain students in india by providing appropriate opportunities in premier institutions bright students who have returned to india maybe accommodated in iits and other institutes to help them complete their education says anil sahasrabudhe chairman aicte who is also a part of the committee the committee will also prepare mechanisms for increasing intake of foreign students in wellperforming universities separate subcommittees consisting of directors of iits nits iiits council of architecture coa and vice chancellors of central universities will also be created to strengthen the study in india initiative we need to have an indian network of international educators many universities do not even have dedicated offices for international students institutional reforms are required to make sure that the number of foreign students choosing india for higher education increases says pankaj mittal secretary general of the association of indian universities aiu the institutes may have to start multidisciplinary innovative programmes twinning and joint degrees and crosscountry centres to help foreign students have a hasslefree experience bhushan patwardhan vice chairman ugc who was also the convener of the promotion of indian higher education abroad pihead committee in 2005 says internationalization has become imperative but there has been no substantial change in the last decade the new national education policy nep emphasizes internationalization of education and retention of students in the country not just premier institutes but universities across the country need to transform themselves to welcome more foreign students watch ministry of education to focus on stay in india along with study in india