A Critical Analysis of Youth Migration Out of Punjab

In recent times, there has undoubtedly been a trend in Punjab for students to migrate abroad for post-secondary education. The most popular destinations for international students worldwide are the United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and New Zealand (Kaur, 2019). A study conducted in 2018 found that India is the second-largest source country for international student migration (King & Sondhi, 2018). The Times of India stated that 136,000 students from Punjab migrated to Canada in 2022, accounting for approximately 60% of all students who migrated from India to Canada. This becomes significant when we take into consideration that Punjab only accounts for less than 2.5% of India’s total population. This information, taken together, paints a clear picture that there is a significant wave of international student migration particularly out of Punjab. This poses a significant problem for Punjab as mass immigration of students can lead to a brain drain in the future. In this article, we will discuss the factors of migration out of Punjab and the implications this has on Punjabi students.

It is evident that a significant number of students are migrating out of Punjab, but what are the factors causing this? A study found that 81% of international migrants from Punjab come from rural areas (Patel, 2015). In such rural areas, the primary source of employment for teenagers is working on the family farm; however, only 1.2% view agriculture as a viable career path (A. Kaur & P. Kaur, 2013). Another study revealed that 48% of international migrants from Punjab belonged to semi-medium or medium-sized farming families, and 12% belonged to large farming families (Batra et al., 2022). This indicates a discrepancy between the available work and the interest in that work, which may contribute to migration. This is further supported by the finding that job dissatisfaction can act as a push factor for migration (Gödri & Feleky, 2017). In a 2018 study, it was also discovered that skilled graduates are drawn to developed countries due to scholarships, enhanced living standards, political stability, and improved job prospects (Kattel & Sapkota, 2018). The age range of 21-25 years old was found to represent 65% of emigrants from a survey of 120 households in the central Punjab region (Batra et al., 2022). When we combine the information from these studies, it becomes apparent that the majority of students migrating from Punjab come from rural farming backgrounds and do not view farming as a viable job prospect, thus migrating out of Punjab for economic stability.

The implication of this mass student immigration out of Punjab has been the exploitation of students looking to migrate abroad. As universities are able to bring a large share of their revenue from international students, they have started to create programs specifically to attract them (Varughese et al., 2022). From the perspective of Canadian universities, international students are seen as “money makers” (Todd, 2019). This has led to the commercialization of international students, which is facilitated by education agents. These agents assist in the immigration process by providing advertisement, assistance in English testing, document procurement, and visa procedures (Collins, 2012). It has been said that many of these agents are located in Punjab, which is viewed as an “untapped market” and has over 5000+ IELTS Centers (International English Language Testing System) (Marom, 2023). Relying on these agents, many students from Punjab were often misinformed about their courses and registration. The students also stated that they were offered institutions based on “business considerations” of the agent (Marom, 2023). It has been seen that recently, Indian international students have been enrolling in “shorter, cheaper, lower-level, easier-to-get-into, vocationally oriented programs” (Varughese et al., 2022). This trend is of particular concern as students leaving Punjab are not getting quality education abroad. Tuitions is also much higher for international students, and most programs require international students to pay three times more than the base tuition. The majority of international students from Punjab are from “small land-owning families, which are far from rich” (Varughese et al., 2022). It has been observed that many of these students from Punjab have taken loans or sold property back home to support their education aboard (Marom, 2023). In a separate study, it was also reported that students and their families spend their life savings, take on bank loans, or sell property which places large amounts of mental pressure on these students coming to study abroad (Varughese et al., 2022). These students then have to increase the number of hours they work due to the financial strain and often find low-wage work where they are exploited by employers who are aware of the 20 hours per week limit these students have (Varughese et al., 2022). When these students arrive in Canada, it has also been seen that they have to live in overcrowded and poor-quality housing due to financial strain (Peel Regional Council, 2021). In conclusion, we see that students migrating out of Punjab are seen as a commodity that is exploited by educational institutions, agents in Punjab, and then by employers abroad.

This article shows that the migration of students out of Punjab is an issue of concern as these students are not getting quality education but rather are being exploited by the system abroad. The lack of quality job prospects and the lack of interest in farming are leading to Punjabi youth leaving to study abroad. This has led to the creation of a lucrative market for international educational institutions and agents living in Punjab; they view these students as “cash cows” (Kahlon, 2021). This is of particular concern as these students and their families take on considerable bank loans, use their life savings, or sell their property to fund their education (Varughese et al., 2022). The issues discussed above make it clear that we need to create better job opportunities for our youth in Punjab or we run the risk of them going abroad and getting subpar education while being exploited by the system.

Citations:

King, Russell, and Gunjan Sondhi. “International student migration: A comparison of UK and Indian students’ motivations for studying abroad.” Globalisation, Societies and Education 16.2 (2018): 176-191.

Kaur, Gurjinder. “Overseas migration of students from Punjab.” International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews 6.1 (2019): 1053-1059.

Patel, A. K. (2015). Foreign dreams’: Rural Punjab way ahead of urban population. NDTV. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/foreign-dreams-rural-punjab-way-ahead-of-urban-population-1 251199.

Kaur, Amanpreet, and Prabhjot Kaur. “Rethinking International Migration in Punjab: A Push–Pull-Mooring Framework.” Journal of International Migration and Integration, Sept. 2023, pp. 1–28. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/10.1007/s12134-023-01077-x. Know Punjab.

Government of Punjab. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2024, from https://punjab.gov.in/know-punjab/

Gödri, Irén, and Gábor Attila Feleky. Selection of migrants and realization of migration intentions-lessons from a panel study. No. 29. Working papers on population, family and welfare, 2017.

Batra, Sarish, Lavleen Kaur, and Vipan Kamboj. “International migration from central Punjab: Push and pull factors.” Journal of Agricultural Development and Policy 32.1 (2022): 42-49.

Kattel R R and Sapkota M. 2018. Brain drain of agriculture and veterinary graduates to abroad: evidence from Nepal. Agriculture and Food Security, 61(7).https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0213-1

Varughese, A. M., Schwartz, S. & Sheen, N. (2022). “Sitting with myself by myself”: Indian Students in Canada During the Pandemic. Comparative and International Education / Éducation comparée et internationale, 51(1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.5206/cieeci.v51i1.14226

Todd, D. (2019, September 3). Douglas Todd: Over-reliance on students from India and China sparks Ottawa reaction. The Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-feds-to-address-over-reliance-on-stu dents-from-india-and-china/

Collins, F. L. (2012). Organizing student mobility: Education agents and student migration to New Zealand. Pacific Affairs, 85(1), 137–160. https://doi.org/10.5509/2012851137

Marom, L. Market mechanisms’ distortions of higher education: Punjabi international students in Canada. High Educ 85, 123–140 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00825-9

Peel Regional Council. (PRC). (2021). International student needs assessment report—Peel region.

https://peelnewcomer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2021/10/PNSG_International-