French President Emmanuel Macron, who in the chief guest for India’s Republic Day 2024, Friday specified how he plans to achieve a “very ambitious target” of 30,000 Indian students in France in 2030. He also said, “I am determined to make it happen.”
“India and France have so much to do together, now and in the future. We will achieve this with you, our young people, in exchange cooperation, in trust, in friendship!” the French President said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
30,000 Indian students in France in 2030: Macron’s 4-point plan
1- Macron said France is launching new pathways in order to learn French in public schools with the initiative “French for All, French for a Better Future”
2- France is also developing the network of Alliance Française, with new centres to learn French
3- The country is also creating international classes which will enable students, who do not necessarily speak French, to join universities in France
4- “We will facilitate the visa process for any former Indian students who studied in France”
Macron further said, “coming to France means looking for excellence.”
He further said, France now has 35 universities in the QS ranking, and about 15 in the Times higher education ranking.
In October last year, Ambassador of France to India, Thierry Mathou, said Macron conveyed that France is willing to welcome 30,000 Indian students within its higher institutions by 2030.
Mathou had said Indian students willing to go to France for higher studies sometimes face visa related issues which may no longer be the case. He also said France believes that when an Indian student spends even just a semester in France, it creates a connection that ought to be fostered and cherished.
Since last summer, Indian students who hold a Master’s degree or above and have spent at least a semester studying in France are eligible for a 5-year short-stay Schengen visa. Mathou said this is a special provision for Indian alumni to enable them to keep close links with France and their French counterparts.
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