France Aims to Attract 20,000 Indian Students by 2025

France has set a target of increasing the number of Indian students to 20,000 by 2025. “For us to achieve this objective, we must attract, every year, 7500 to 8000 students, and therefore increase the actual numbers by 50%. It is very ambitious. But the sky is the limit between India and France,”  French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said while addressing students at the Delhi University on September 14. 

Colonna informed that France is now regaining its pre-COVID Indian student strength. “France will welcome, in 2022, almost the same number of Indian students as in 2019, during which more than 5000 students have completed their procedure for long-stay studies in France,” she added. 

She also discussed France government’s effort to financially support Indian students in 2022. Colonna said that 500 Indian students were awarded scholarships with a cumulative worth of € 1.6 million. 

While stressing the need for gender balance in education and internationally, she said, “I believe we (men and women) are complimentary. And the world would be in better balance and harmony if more women were in key positions.” 

The announcement to create study opportunities for 20,000 Indian students was made in a  joint statement in May 2022 by Indian PM Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. “Recognizing the benefit of bilateral student mobility, France maintains the objective of 20,000 Indian students by 2025, which will create opportunities for new businesses, start-ups, and innovation between the two countries,” the statement said.