Six months ago, the University of Twente launched the India Office. This milestone is an important step towards a better understanding of India (specifically, southern India) and to recruiting more, and better, students from that region. The Indian education market offers many opportunities, but there is still much work to be done. Time to take stock of progress to date.
Why the need for an India Office?
India is one of the largest education markets in the world. Prospective students there are exploring various international options, to develop a competitive CV. Due to the sheer size of that country and to the substantial cultural differences involved, India is not an easy market. For this reason, Marketing & Communication proposed the establishment of a dedicated University of Twente office.
“By establishing a physical presence in India, we can increase the university’s visibility among prospective students, and certainly also among Indian universities,” says Marlies Overbeek from Marketing & Communication, who is the coordinator. “Furthermore, prospective students and their families have a great need for personal contact. This is difficult to facilitate from the Netherlands.”
What does the India Office actually do?
The India Office, which was launched in September 2016, is headed by Sudha Sudeep, who formerly worked for Nuffic NESO India. The office serves to generate an awareness of the University of Twente’s educational programmes. This mainly involves recruitment activities, such as trade fairs and events at various universities. The UT is also establishing a robust network of recruitment agents to recruit students on a ‘no cure no pay’ basis. The India Office trains and supervises these commercial parties. Sudha Sudeep’s extensive knowledge of both the Indian and Dutch markets enables the UT to move quickly and take the right steps.
Sudha Sudeep: ‘an exciting time’
Current global political developments are helping mainland Europe to gain ground in India. Prospective students are currently exploring options beyond their traditional destinations, such as the UK and the USA. In Sudeep’s view “National developments are also having an impact on the mobility of prospective students”. “In 2016, for example, in an attempt to counter the black economy, the Indian government declared that many of the country’s banknotes were no longer legal tender. A large part of the Indian economy is cash-based. We are aware that this unpopular measure makes it impossible for many families to finance a child’s educational programme. Banks are extremely slow to provide student loans. This makes it all the more exciting when we see how our efforts are bearing fruit, in the form of additional intake for the University of Twente’s educational programmes.”
March 2017: close to 500 preliminary enrolments from India
We already have 476 preliminary enrolments from India, so we are cautiously optimistic about the intake for September 2017. “That is about two hundred more than at this time last year, but we will have to wait until the new academic year has actually started to see how many of these applications convert into actual intake,” says Marlies Overbeek.
She cites a number of factors that are important in this regard: “What proportion of the candidates put forward were actually admissible, were scholarships awarded to those candidates, and – very importantly – what other course options were available to this group? There is ongoing competition with other institutions right up to the very last moment. This is why smooth and effective admission procedures, plus an adequate supply of scholarships, are so important if we are to achieve the international objectives of Vision 2020. Accordingly, if any fellow members of staff require advice on admitting prospective Indian students or on nominating prospective students for a scholarship, they can ask the University of Twente’s India Office for support.”
Mission to India
The launch of the India Office prompted a recent University of Twente mission to India. This delegation included several Directors of Education, as well as staff from the Strategy & Policy and Marketing & Communication service departments.
Alma Schaafstal, Director of Education for the Creative Technology programme, shares some details of her experiences on that trip. “In India, education is booming. It’s all about getting a good degree, and India’s top universities only have a limited number of places for students. The country has a complex educational system. This shows in the scores awarded to students. The real value of grade 8, for example, varies from one place to another. The India Office can be of tremendous assistance in finding and approaching the appropriate target group for our purposes, in determining the true value of the grades, and in helping to ensure that admissible students actually do come to Twente.”
“I was impressed by our visits to Amrita University (Chennai) and to SRM University, where we came across a group of students whose studies have much in common with Creative Technology. The opening of the India Office was equally extraordinary. Furthermore, every aspect of India’s social scene is utterly fascinating!”
Erik van Dijk, from the Marketing & Communication department, was one of the participants. He recalls that “In the space of a single week, we visited ten different universities, ranging from private to public, and from relatively small to huge. We also participated in education fairs held by one of our agents, the Chopras. This helped us to better understand the agents’ working practices and the complexity of the education system itself. Above all, however, it provided insight into the process by which Indian students make this choice, something that can and should be very instructive for us at the University of Twente.
The opening of the India Office was one of the highlights. In the years to come, I believe that the India Office will prove to be very important indeed. The University of Twente stands to benefit greatly from having permanent representation in India.”
Media offensive with UT alumnus
A recent story about Avinash Narayanaswamy, a successful University of Twente alumnus, shows that the India Office can also play a very productive part in PR-related activities. Avinash, who is committed to the promotion of biodiesel as a renewable fuel, undertook a unique sustainability mission. He makes a direct connection between his story and his course of studies at Twente. His is a very wide-ranging vision. Along with the Marketing & Communication department, the India Office has raised awareness of this mission both within India and in dealings with that country. Not only within the University of Twente’s Indian channels, but also in the Indian media. For instance, Avinash featured prominently in The Hindu, a leading daily newspaper in India.
Contact the India Office
Sudha Sudeep: s.sudeep@utwente.nl
#4, 195A, St Mary's Road, Abhiramapuram, Chennai 600018, India
Telephone: +91 44 2499 2747
