Germany to woo Indian students to tackle labour market shortages
“At 43000, Indian students form the largest number of international students in Germany. It is important to make the German labour market attractive for Indian students after they get their educational degrees to address the increasing gap in skilled workers in the German labour market,” German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) president, Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, said during a press briefing in New Delhi.
He added that following the discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last year; and Germany’s newly enacted Skilled Immigration Act; Indian students will find a smoother pathway into the German labour market. “For Indian students, who have got German degrees many of which are taught in English; the way to getting employment in Germany and other Schengen area countries is now more attractive. We believe in the concept of brain circulation rather than brain drain and we think that international students who are well qualified can follow a very successful professional career path in Germany,” Dr Mukherjee said.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany reveals a 26 per cent increase in the count of Indian students in Germany over the past year, reaching 42,997 for the winter semester of 2022-23. Indians constitute the predominant cohort of international students at German universities, with engineering being the most favored discipline at 60 per cent, followed by law, management, and social studies at 22 per cent, and mathematics and natural sciences at 14 per cent,
