Don't go to study in Pakistan, you will not get a job in India: AICTE

However, the AICTE notice gives concessions to migrants and their children.

The University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education have advised students against travelling to Pakistan for pursuing higher education.

In a public notice issued on April 22, the AICTE said that any Indian national or Overseas Citizen of India who intends to take admission to any degree college of Pakistan shall not be eligible for seeking employment in India on the basis of such educational qualifications acquired in Pakistan.

However, the notice gives concession to migrants and their children.

'Migrants and their children who have acquired higher education degrees in Pakistan and have been awarded citizenship by India would be eligible for seeking employment in India after obtaining security clearance from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs,' the notice read.

The percentage of Indian students studying in Pakistani higher educational institutes is minuscule. Media reports said that around 200 Indian students, most of them from Jammu and Kashmir, had gained admission to Pakistani universities in 2020. The current figure for such enrolments is not known. 

According to sources, the notice was issued because the AICTE and UGC do not want students to end up doing courses in other countries which have no parity with the course being undertaken in Indian universities. Sources further said that by not availing education from Indian universities or institutes many Indian students fail to secure admissions when they go in for higher studies in other countries.

The government body had earlier issued such a notice to students pursuing medical courses online from Chinese universities. China is yet to restore student visas from India, leaving students who were sent back home in November 2020 in a lurch. 

The UGC had made it clear that the degrees received via online medical courses shall not be recognised in India.