As the world watched, the 'referendum date' is over but its momentum still persists. Britain underwent a bad marriage, not so amicably divorced from the European Union with a few unsettled disputes still counting! Brit–EU relation dates back to many years following the aftermath of World War II, with the number of immigrants increasing in the UK, from India and other countries, thereby doubling the population size.
Britain no more part of the treaty is soon to frame new rules and policies, although we do not know who is going to take over the responsibility after UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
‘Breleave/Brexit’ has caused shocking changes in the stock market, leading to a weaker British pound (GBP). In foreign exchange terms, you can spend less Indian rupees (INR) to buy GBP, meaning you had to spend 100 INR before Brexit to buy 1 GBP. After Brexit, you just need to spend 90 INR to buy 1 GBP. This could be a positive factor for Indian students willing to pursue higher education in Britain.
Just one click on the voting button changed 500 million lives living in the country overnight! The UK was asked to make a swift exit. Well, they will not just scuttle leaving behind all the pending work. No one can predict the long-term effects of Brexit!
Let us discuss the benefits of Brexit and its impact on Indian students:
Funding & Scholarship
The UK is often the most sought-after places to pursue higher studies. When it comes to education, we have the top-most universities and colleges in the UK. Also, the UK has many collaborations with high-profile research places like CERN and other leading universities in the EU, and Indian students fit the bill perfectly when it comes to Britain’s demand for more talented brains.
Following Brexit, Britain will definitely open its doors to fetch more Indian students to its colleges, since it could accommodate more number of populations now. With the less pound value, the UK could provide a benefit of more subsidized rates and more scholarships to Indian students migrating to the country. Loss of UK is almost 15% loss of GDP from EU, so EU could also open its arms to India to compensate for this loss.
Migration
Britain not only contributes a lot to the EU budget but also receives more than what it invests. Britain being no more a part of the EU family could face an upheaval in its trade and export, which will have an inevitable impact on its income. Chances are it could welcome more number of Indian companies to invest on them, providing attractive benefits to Indian markets in order to establish the Brit-business market.
The number of migrants from India to Britain may remain same but chances are Indian students studying in UK can get access to other EU countries, if Indian markets are desperate to establish ties with the EU market.
Depreciation of the pound
As I mentioned earlier, lesser sterling pound value could increase more number of Indian students in the UK, making it as their preferred study or job destination. Moreover, the visa rules to search for a job after completing your studies may also be relaxed in the UK. As per The Hindu; 30 June’16 – the paper work for the visa procedure will remain same, that is, separate for UK and Europe; so no worries on that!
Education & Job prospects
Brexit could also create more attraction towards the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field, since the universities will be in dire need for more resources.
According to The Independent, Every year, universities in the UK generate over £73 billion for the UK economy – £3.7 billion of which is generated by students from EU countries, supporting nearly 380,000 jobs. This means UK would need a ‘big help’ now to create more jobs in its market to support its revenue. And this could lead to more job opportunities for Indian students studying in the UK.
Bright ideas!
Amidst the shock of ‘breleave or bremain’, Britain will try to improve its assets by attracting foreign investors. Almost 800 Indian companies are UK-based so they might need an alternative to support their business. The UK was EU’s second-largest economy.
According to The Hindu; 29 June' 16 – Considering the exit of Britain, Hungary is taking an initiative to help some Indian companies provide an alternative location.
Such opportunities will be more as we can see. Probably, Indian students aspiring to study abroad will get to study + work both in the UK and EU, as a part of their study programme, thereby opening more funding opportunities in research.
We saw a neck-to-neck battle in the UK – a ‘once in a blue moon’ incident. The event will definitely have an impact on the global economy. No worries! because UK knows – ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you strong! Even though Brexit and Rexit (Raghuram Rajan’s exit) were a solid blow to us, we all hope that our students and Indian citizens receive some benefits out of this setback.
Image source: Google image.