English MBBS Seats in China Restricted for Indian Students Amidst Surge of Applications
The MoE of China has given permission to only 45 universities for carrying out the bilingual curriculum of MBBS courses. The other universities have to teach students only in Chinese, hence foreign students, which includes Indians, cannot study in those universities.
China is among the top countries that Indian students choose for pursuing medicine courses. With a vast number of Indian students enrolling for studying medicine in China, the education ministry of the country has authorised only 45 out of the total local medical colleges that admit foreign students to teach MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) in English. The total medical colleges admitting foreign students are over 200 and these colleges witness the enrolment of a record number of students from India every year for studying medicine. China has been attracting foreign students, especially those from India and other Asian countries, because of its affordable courses as compared to the institutions in the UK, the US, and Australia.
This news was revealed in a statement of the Chinese MoE and in a press release that was issued by the Indian Embassy. The MoE said that schools that are not listed among the 45 universities will not be permitted to recruit undergraduate students majoring in clinical medicine in any language other than Chinese. It also said that the universities will be constantly reviewed and regular updates will be made in its course content. Only the 45 universities that are permitted for teaching medical courses in English are now on the official website of the Indian Embassy.
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This statement means that the foreign students that will be enrolled studying in the universities other than the 45 qualified universities will be taught in Chinese and they are expected to learn Chinese while studying MBBS. They will receive their degrees in Chinese, not in English. The students who are already studying in these universities will get their degrees in English and the new rules will only apply to new recruits.
According to the statistics, the total number of students from India studying medicine in China is 23,000 and that from Pakistan is 28,000. This number is the highest for India as China had permitted foreign students to study MBBS in its universities in 2003. Out of these, 21,000 students are enrolled in the course of MBBS, thus making it an all-time high. The number has been increasing rapidly with over 7,000 Indian students going to China every year for studying medicine.
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A major reason why Indian students go to China for studying medicine is that the cost of it is lesser in China as compared to India. In the 45 listed universities, the annual cost of the course is usually between 3 to 5 lakhs and proceed to be even lesser in the remaining 216 universities. These medical colleges and universities of China rushed to admit students from India and other countries that do not speak Chinese, but they have faced a major struggle in hiring quality professors who can teach in English.