New Delhi: Delhi University (DU) saw a 12% drop in the number of foreign applications this year compared to 2020, showed data shared by the university on Tuesday, a fall officials attributed to the nationwide second wave of Covid-19 between April and May.
While the university received over 1,500 applications from 80 countries last year, 1,324 students from 61 countries have applied for admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses for the 2021-22 academic year.
A majority of the students are from Afghanistan (320), and the rest are from Nepal (185), Tibet (156), Vietnam (10), Thailand (7), Sri Lanka (5), Mauritius (4), Angola, Gambia, Lesotho (three applications each), and between one and two applications from other countries, including Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Yemen, among others.
Amarjiva Lochan, DU’s deputy dean (foreign students), said, “We receive two applications from two sources — through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and directly through our online portal. This year we have not received fewer direct applications on the DU portal. The Covid-19 situation putting lakhs of families across the world in challenging situations is behind the drop in applications.”