Sunita Kriplani, manager, Education Counselling Service, British Council, puts the figure (self-funded Indians going to the UK for higher education) at 1,452 for 1995-96; 1,746 for 1996-97; and 2,193 for 1997-98. The corresponding number of self-funded Indians going to Australia for higher education, according to Henry A S Ledlie, country manager--India, IDP Education Australia, are 1,000 to 1,300 in 1995-96; 2,300 in 1996-97; and 3,800 to 4,000 in 1997-98.

Both UK and Australia displayed their wares at their respective education fairs in the various cities of India recently. While the UK education fair wassomewhat educative with a series of seminars and talks, the Australian fair demonstrated more hard sell. A publicity blitz on the popular FM channel about the Australian fair, processing of application forms at the fair itself, and the lady representatives of Australian universities in sarees, all went to show that Australia is going all out to nab Indian students.

Kriplani says that the British focus is on providing quality education to bright and self-financed Indian students. Also, two major UK education fairs are being organised every year with around 40 representative universities and colleges taking part in them. The November fair focusses on Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi and Calcutta, while the February fair taps south Indian cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. As a special case, the February fair comes to Delhi, too.

Ledlie says the US and the UK education systems are known for high quality and tradition, whereas Australia offers both high quality as well as modern education. Heargues that Australia has introduced the fair phenomenon, which other countries have caught on to. Says Ledlie: ``Australia has brought choice to India. Earlier, it had to be either the US or the UK, now Australia has woken up the sleeping giants.'' In fact, no other country organised education fairs before Australia came on the scene. Now, even France is joining the bandwagon--the French education fair is scheduled for November 29-30 in New Delhi.

Another point of difference is in the presence of various universities and colleges at the education fairs. For instance, the top institutions of the UK--Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics--were missing at the recent fair. It was clear that such prestigious institutions were not looking for a selling forum. On the other hand, the Australian fair saw all the popular institutions--Adelaide University, Swinburne University, Curtin, Monash, University of Technology, Sydney. Also important is the fact that all recognised Australian universities andcolleges are on par with each other. There's no official rating, as such, but you can still assess them according to their popularity.

Talking about popular disciplines, Kriplani says the MBA courses are in tremendous demand among Indian students seeking to study in the UK. Some diploma courses, such as fashion, journalism, hotels and tourism, have also picked up in demand.

Another recent trend is that of more students from north India opting for undergraduate courses, says Kriplani. In other regions, post-graduate courses remain ever popular. But undergraduate studies are picking up in Australia, Ledlie says.

Apart from MBA, the other popular disciplines in Australia are Information Technology, Food Processing, Fashion Technology, Media Studies, Hotels and Tourism, among many others, adds Ledlie. Of the unusual courses, there have been enquiries for Music courses, too, adds Ledlie.

Scholarships, which are a significant feature of foreign education, are also witnessing a few changes. The UK isoffering 700 scholarships at an all-India level, mostly for one-year Master's courses. This is a substantial increase from the number of scholarships offered earlier. Though Australia does not have a definite figure to quote for scholarships for Indian students, Ledlie says the number of scholarships is going up. Many of the scholarships in Australia are offered by individual colleges and sometimes by particular departments. Take, for instance, the University of Adelaide. Dennis Murray, director, International Programs, University of Adelaide, says: ``We have a large scholarship programme for Australian and international students.''

Murray puts the value of scholarships for the year 1999 at Aus $ 15 million. Of the entire lot, 50 plus scholarships will be meant for international students. Murray adds: ``From next year, five scholarships will be meant only for Indian students--two for undergraduate studies and three for post-graduate courses.''

The eligibility conditions for such a scholarship will,however, be quite tough--at least 95 per cent at the CBSE level. Not just that, the University of Adelaide expects to form an association with top Indian universities to identify the best Indian minds.

The ultimate strategy, as Murray puts it, is to strengthen relationships with Indian experts in chosen areas such as Molecular Biology, Environmental Science, IT & Telecom, Medico and Agricultural Science, so that industries in the two countries come together in a meaningful way.

So, whether it's the UK or Australia or any other country selling its courses to Indians, the long-term aim is to groom the best minds for trade benefits over the next 10-20 years.