A public notice issued on Friday said, “All concerned are advised not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing higher education. Any Indian national/foreign national of India who is in any degree college/college in Pakistan. seeks admission to an educational institution, shall not be eligible for employment or higher studies in India on the basis of such educational qualification (in any discipline) acquired in Pakistan.”
It said, “However, expatriates and their children who have acquired a degree of higher education in Pakistan and have been awarded citizenship by India, shall be eligible for employment in India after obtaining security clearance from the MHA.”
The latest advice comes less than a month after regulatory authorities warned Indian students against studying in China.
UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said: “UGC and AICTE issue such public notices in the interest of Indian students who wish to pursue their higher education outside the country. In recent times, we have seen how our students faced difficulties as they could not go back abroad to continue their studies. According to AICTE President Anil Sahasrabuddhe, Indian students need to be advised which institutions and countries they should travel to for education so that they do not come up with degrees as per Indian rules. “Parents and students should not waste their hard earned money in pursuing something which does not have equality in India. We have seen similar cases with other countries including Ukraine and China. This is one of the reasons for this advice,” he said.
However, on the issue of citizenship granters being eligible for employment by India, Sahasrabuddhe said that education equality will be given on a case-to-case basis and some may need to take certain exams.
“These are exceptional cases for some difficult circumstances. So the government will support. However degree parity will be done on a case-to-case basis as not all degrees may be equal and some may have to take certain exams. As is the case with medical degrees earned from countries like Ukraine or China,” he said.
However, apart from degree parity, other issues, including internal security, have been identified by the government, a senior government source said.
The advisory against traveling to China for education comes in the wake of the Chinese government denying visas to Indian students already studying in Chinese universities following the pandemic.