As students prepare to start their academic year this month, they may be in a bind.
They can’t plan their trips to and from school, or plan to stay for the summer, because many universities have cut back on accommodation to ease congestion in the cities.
But even if they manage to book accommodation and travel for their summer vacation, many students are forced to travel across the country, or they are forced by other constraints to leave their homes for work.
India’s students, especially in the rural south, have been forced to live in a maze of hostels, hotels and hostels because of the growing number of students who lack the funds to afford to travel on foot.
The government is trying to tackle this problem, but it faces stiff resistance from the hostels and students who are already frustrated and struggling to make ends meet.
While universities have come under increased pressure to cater to students’ needs, the problem of lack of accommodation has also been exacerbated by the shortage of hostel spaces, with many students opting to use hostels or dorms rather than hostel accommodation.
In a move to fill the gap, the Indian government recently announced that it would open up more than 2,000 hostels across the state, making it easier for students to stay in hostels as well as other temporary accommodation options.
The government has announced the opening of more than 20,000 new hostels over the next five years to accommodate students.
“Our hostels are still limited, and the availability of host-rooms has decreased over the years, so we are trying to fill it up,” said Dr. Jyotirmoy Das, chairman of the Indian College of Medical Sciences (ICMS) and an expert on education and health in India.
This lack of available accommodation in Indian hostels is an issue for many students in the country.
“The students are often in the hostel for two or three days in a row, and if we are lucky, we get to stay longer,” said Shubhangi Das, a student from Karnataka who had stayed in a hostel in Kolkata.
Many students said that they were frustrated with the inability of hostellos to provide them with adequate accommodation during their first few weeks of study.
“I am not able to afford hostels.
I am not sure what kind of accommodation will be available,” said Sarthak, a 25-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh.
India has over 5,000,000 students, and more than one-third of them are from rural areas.
Most students who arrive in India have little or no formal education and live in the countryside, and many are unable to afford the costs of transportation, accommodation and food.
India has one of the highest per capita levels of child malnutrition in the world, and its student population is also among the lowest in the industrialized world.
“We are constantly dealing with this problem of overcrowding,” said Pankaj Sood, a research fellow at the World Bank who has spent years researching India’s student and hostel housing problems.
Even if they do manage to get a hostels room, students say they often can’t afford the hostelling fees and hotel fees.
The Indian government has recently proposed setting up a national fund to help students pay these charges, but there is a significant hurdle to overcome before the funds will be implemented.
Some students, like Sudha, said that the problem is even worse when they are visiting their friends and relatives in the U.S. or Canada, where the cost of housing is cheaper.
“There is no accommodation in these countries, so even if we have accommodation, it’s not enough to pay for the hosteling fees,” she said.
In an attempt to address the student housing problem, the government is looking to expand its hostel system in rural areas, but many students have questioned the idea, saying that the system has not improved in rural India and they are still struggling to pay the fees and hostelling charges.
“What will happen if we try to pay these fees?” asked Sudha.
“Will we have to go to the hostellers?
Will we be forced to leave our homes?”
Read more: http://indiatimes.com/news/world/asia/education/chinese-students-rescue-southeast-asian-student-hospitality-chinese/articleshow/59262798.cms This article has been updated to include additional information about the Chinese students stranded in a U.K. hospital.
