Krishna Relekar is one among thousands of students from India on his way to Germany this September. Though excited about pursuing his MSC from the University of Stuttgart, the 22-year-old had endless queries about living a life away from his family. “I had several questions in my mind from the amount of cash to carry, reaching my dormitory after my arrival, adapting to the German lifestyle, the inflation, and more,” Krishna told The Free Press Journal.
However, the Germany-bound student’s trip to the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) turned out to be quite a success as he joined 49 other students at the German government-funded organisation’s pre-departure session in Pune on July 28. DAAD India, which provides information about education in Germany, grants scholarships and supports research projects in the country, conducted this session for students who wish to have a hassle-free experience in the European country. “The session was very interactive with students being able to share their experiences. We conducted a quiz session for the students, we asked them different questions about their cooking skills, knowledge of Germany, and more. We also enacted different situations and assessed how they reacted to it based on the inter-cultural differences,” said Dhanashree Deodhar, Regional Officer Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa & Madhya Pradesh, DAAD.
Similar to organisations like EducationUSA, which serves as an international student advising centre for individuals going to the United States, DAAD begins counselling sessions months before students leave for Germany. “I was able to get very detailed insights about my study journey in Germany at the session. Apart from that I joined DAAD’s counselling sessions 6 months ago. Even in a span of 15 minutes, I was able to get 99% of my queries addressed by the officials,” stated Siddharth Suman, who wishes to work in famous German automotive brands Audi and Mercedes once he is done with his studies.
DAAD helped to get acquainted with Germany, culture
Though home to a 66,000-strong Indian student community, Germany won’t be the same for Himanshu without his support system. “I will miss my family and the culture the most among all things when I leave India,” said Himanshu, who will be pursuing Mechanical Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen. For others, who are travelling abroad for the first time, the jitters feel normal as they try to figure out a country and its culture from scratch.
“Throughout the process, I learned how to do my SOPs, book tickets, how to communicate with people, what we must avoid in Germany, and the intricate details that only people who lived in the country for years know about. DAAD helped me a lot through this phase,” said another student, Gayatri Borawade, who is set to pursue Media culture and economics in Germany.
Despite being known for its excellent reputation in Science and Research for decades, the dominance of English-speaking countries such as the US, Australia, the UK, and Canada saw many students not looking at Germany as an option. According to Dhanashree, misconceptions about the country as a study destination were a challenge that is now being tackled by organisations like DAAD. “Many students initially have misconceptions that learning German is a must, that courses are more intensive and take longer time to finish, only technical universities have good placements, students don’t receive support from professors, etc,” stated Dhanashree, who added that students also get help from DAAD to connect with Indian associations, DAAD Young Ambassador, and other initiatives.
Indian student community second largest in German varsities
As per data accessed by The FPJ back in September 2022, the number of Indian students in Germany increased threefold in the past seven years with Indians now forming the second largest group of international students enrolled at German universities. As per the official data from DAAD India, the most popular subject fields are Engineering Sciences (68.21%), Mathematics, Natural Sciences (11.93%) Management, Law & Social sciences (13.97%).
Though the number of Indian students is increasing, the introduction of Akademische Prüfstelle (APS) certificates has led to delays in German visas getting approved. “Due to APS we might experience some decrease in the number as some students were not able to apply for visas in time,” stated Dhanashree. As per the official data, APS is currently working on 1,000 certificates per week with numbers seen by The FPJ back in April 2023 showing that only 7,000 students received certification between November 2022-April 2023.
