By our special correspondent
Thiruvanantha puram, June 16 (IVC) The Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2023 revealed that the student migration from Kerala rose to 2.2 million in 2023 from 2.1 million in 2018 as per the survey held in 2018.
The 2023 Survey conducted by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT) with the technical support from the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD ) estimated the outward remittance from Kerala recorded at Rs 43,378.6 crore , which is about 20 per cent of the inward remittance.
The total remittance from migration also reached a record Rs 2,16,893 crore in 2023 from Rs 85,092 crore in 2018, the report said., making a 154.9 per cent increase.
The number of students emigrated from Kerla was 1,29,763 in 2018 and it doubled to 2.5 lakh about 100 per cent in 2023 in the post-Covid -19 period. Students constituted 11.3 per cent of total emigrants from Kerala as per KMS 2023.
T he significant rise student emigration underscored a shift in the demographics of emigrants from Kerala , with an increase in the number of emigrants leaving the State at a very young age as early as 17 years.
There has also been a notable shift in the preference of destination for student migration with the students preferring non-GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council) countries.
According to S Irudaya Rajan, Chairman, IIMAD who released the survey by handing over copy to the Kerala chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on June 14 here the dramatic increase in student migration calls for an urgent need to enhance the State’s educational infrastructure and provide resources that ensure safe migration pathways for future student emigrants.
It is also important to develop new policies that will encourage Malayali international students to return home after acquiring valuable skills abroad, fostering a wave of brain gain, Mr Rajan added.
The proportion of female emigration in general has also gone up to 19.01 per cent in 2023 from 15.8 in 2018.
The female migration has further seen a shift from GCC countries to Europe and other Western nations as destination countries accounting for 40.5 per cent. In terms of education, 71.5 per cent of female migrants were found to have completed degree-level education as opposed to only 34.7 per cent of male emigrants. IVC Ckg Tcr
