88% Indian parents want to send kids abroad for post graduation

A vast majority of Indian parents prefer to invest in an international education for their child and are willing to spend more to sponsor their higher education abroad, a study reveals.

Parents are increasingly willing to spend more for kids' education overseas as 88 per cent of them want to send their children abroad for post-graduate studies, said an HSBC survey.

According to the annual HSBC 'Value of Education Learning for Life' report, India has the world's highest proportion of parents (88 per cent) who are willing to send their children abroad for higher studies, ahead of Turkey (83 per cent), Malaysia and China (82 per cent each).

In comparison, Australia finds itself at the bottom, where 52 per cent parents are willing to send children abroad for post-graduate studies.

For Canada and the United States, the figure reads 53 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

The report singled out higher costs as one of the key barriers for Indian parents when it comes to sending children overseas for education. But they are still willing to go that extra mile.

It stated that 71 per cent of parents think a university education is extortionate, 48 per cent still believe that an undergraduate degree was necessary to achieve for their kids to achieve life goals, the Mirror reported.

Nearly 93 per cent Indian parents, who are open to the idea of an international university education, would consider paying more for it than they would do here in India.

Caroline Connellan, head of UK Wealth, HSBC said that most parents consider taking on debt to send their children to university, but even though they feel responsible to help pay for their children's education, by the time their children reach university age, they don't have the required saved despite best laid plans.

With the average cost of tuition alone around 9,000 pounds, it can be the biggest financial commitment families make aside from a mortgage, she added.

"Parents should start planning and saving smartly for their children's education in order to ensure that the ambitions they have for them are fulfilled," HSBC India head of retail banking and wealth management S Ramakrishnan said.

As per the survey, information technology is the most preferred sector for Indians.

The proportion of parents willing to get their children into the IT sector is highest in India (18 per cent), followed by 11 per cent each in the UAE and Indonesia.

Parents from the UAE (33 per cent) and Indonesia (31 per cent) are more likely to get their children into medicine while 14 per cent of Indian parents want their children to make a career either in medicine or engineering, HSBC said.

The 'Value of Education Learning for life' survey has a sample size of 5,550 parents from across 16 countries and territories with a minimum of 300 parents representing each country.

Lead image used for representational purposes only. Credit: Reuters