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MANGALURU: The number of foreign students seeking admission in various colleges in the coastal districts has fallen considerably due to Covid-19 restrictions. Karnataka is a popular destination for foreign students, especially those pursuing higher education. In 2018-19, Karnataka had the most foreign students at 10,023 among all states.

Every year, Mangaluru alone sees about 100 foreign students, but post-pandemic the picture has changed drastically. So far, only NRI students from a few countries have sought admission.

For example, Mangalagangothri campus of Mangalore University used to enrol more than 50 foreign students from several countries under its Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) programme.

PL Dharma, registrar (evaluation) said this year, no foreign student has enrolled, but hoped things would change. “They are unable to come to campus due to travel restrictions. We are looking forward to their arrival, but don’t know when that will be,” Dharma said.

MU rolled out the red carpet for foreign students in 2014-15. That year saw 20 students join and it increased to 55 the following year. The varsity is a popular destination for students from African countries, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Iran, Fiji, China, Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh besides others.

Dr Venkataraya Prabhu, dean, Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru said the college stopped admitting foreign students after NEET was introduced in 2016. “However, the number of NRI students has reduced this year. We have NRIs only from Middle-East countries, particularly UAE. Earlier, we used to get foreign students from Malaysia, Canada and the USA,” he said.

SDM Law College, Mangaluru, has also stopped admitting foreign students due to administration issues and not Covid-19, said Tharanath, principal. The college had a large student community from the African continent. Currently there are only a few students in the final year from Kenya and Nigeria.

A senior official of a leading private university said there are concerns over admitting foreign students at the pandemic situation is like a double-edged sword for institutions. “We don’t have enough resources to tackle a cluster outbreak spread by foreign students,” the official said. “On the other hand, in the long-run we also cannot survive without the revenue they bring .”