Mumbai: State’s higher and technical education department has proposed launching an integrated portal for facilitating admissions to the top 500 QS-ranked international universities for students from Maharashtra.The proposed portal intends to provide credible information to aspirants, including brochures, fee structures, admission procedures, eligibility criteria and other key details. State govt also plans to reach out to the universities to collaborate and disseminate authentic information directly to students. The initiative will be open only to students from Maharashtra and will facilitate admissions only to the top 500 universities.A feasibility report on the proposal is expected to be presented before the higher and technical education minister soon.An official from the department said they plan to provide the services free of cost. “The idea is to provide authentic information to students and provide a direct link to the university’s admission portal. We intend to provide them with the brochure, the fees and the paperwork required, among other things. Software has to be developed to link information to all the top universities. We are hoping to eliminate the presence of middlemen and agents involved in the admission process,” said the official, referring to a recent case in Kandivli where families were duped of lakhs with promises of overseas education opportunities by an agency.The issue was brought up for discussion in a recent meeting with the higher and technical education minister.The facility, as proposed, will be made available to students through the Admissions Regulating Authority in the state. This exercise, sources said, will also provide readymade data on students from the state who are travelling abroad and can be resourceful during a crisis.Maharashtra accounts for approximately 12% of the country’s total outbound flow. Close to 19 lakh Indian students are studying abroad, as per a recent Ministry of External Affairs report presented in Parliament. As per the report, the top countries for outbound students’ flow are countries such as Canada, US, UK, UAE and Australia.The official from the department also said that the database will be resourceful for the state govt in a crisis-like situation. “We will have first-hand information and data on students, at least on the ones that have gone to leading universities in the world,” said the official.
