Dubai: Students from India studying at UAE universities have been badly hit by the rupee’s fall.
Many undergraduate and post-graduate students studying at the country’s campuses told XPRESS their cost of education has gone up by 30-40 per cent in rupee terms since the currency began a record free-fall this year.
Last month the rupee fell to an all-time low of 18.75 to a dirham. It may have brought joy to millions of Indians remitting money home, but for the thousands of students who began a new academic year this week it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Happy Dudee, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at the BITS Pilani Dubai campus, says his graduation studies have now become a ‘scary proposition’. “When I first came to Dubai in July 2010, I remember, the rupee hovered at 12.5 to 13 against a dirham. So my combined expenses of Dh65,000 (Dh35,000 tuition fees and Dh30,000 hostel fees) for the first couple of years never exceeded Rs850,000 per year.”
At today’s rate however, his Dh65,000 expenses equal more than Rs1.1 million, a jump of more than Rs300,000 (Dh17,455), an almost 37 per cent rise in Dudee’s college expenses per year.
Pocket allowances
Pocket allowances have also been hit. “At the start of my course, my father and I agreed upon Rs50,000 as pocket money for about five months,” said Dudee. “Back then, Rs50,000 fetched me Dh4,000, but now I don’t even get Dh3,000. So I have had to do odd jobs to make up for the shortfall,” says the student doubling up as a part-time events promoter.
Another student, Niyati Sharma, says she has been ‘lucky to escape’ the rupee free fall thanks to a six-month internship at an Indian multinational last month. “I have moved out of the hostel for my internship, thus saving a significant portion of hostel fees. Besides, I am going to be paid for the next six months. That will take care of tuition fees for the term,” says the fourth year electrical and electronic engineering student on a Dh3,500 stipend per month.
However, institutions have offered to help. “We understand how expensive it has become this year for someone from India to come and study here, so we are offering all students a scholarship of 25 per cent on tuition fees for the first year,” said Mariam Shaikh, Assistant Vice-President of Amity University, Dubai.
Big savings
Tuition fees at Amity’s Dubai campus for under and post graduate courses range from Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 per year. As a result, Amity’s new eligible students stand to receive a cutback varying from Rs385,000 to Rs650,000. “It has seen us treble our enrolments,” said Shaikh.
As for parents sending money to their children from India, financial experts advise them to wait. “Since the Indian economy is showing signs of recovery, it would be ideal to hold on until the end of this month and remit money when the rupee value is around 60, said Adeeb Ahamed, CEO of Lulu International Exchange.
