The international education sector in the UK is wasting an opportunity by not providing an avenue for students to build their own startups, according to a leading advocate for international students.
Sanam Arora, one of The PIE’s 50 Voices in Europe and director of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union in the UK, said that the country is “missing a big trick” by not “tapping into their entrepreneurial spirit”.
“In Hindi, we have a term called Jugaad, which means innovation and disruption – and getting things done,” Arora told delegates during the Live and Spontaneous PIE Chat Live panel at the PIE Live Europe.
“We say in India that Jugaad is built into our DNA, and it is true to a certain degree.
“I think given some of the challenges we face economically and sociopolitically we just find a way around things, and get things done. There is a genuine entrepreneurial spirit that I feel we’re not tapping into,” she explained.
Shivani Bhalla, who heads up international recruitment at Brunel University London, agreed, telling delegates about a group of international students she encountered from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, who launched an unofficial food startup during their studies through lockdown.
“They were supplying home-cooked meals at very reasonable prices to dorms and different accommodations,” Bhalla recounted.
“We don’t have a direct route to the startup eco-system”
She also explained that during lockdown restrictions in the UK, international students still in the country were able to come up with “amazing ideas whilst locked in their rooms”.
“There is so much of this excitement and zest in the youth of today, to do something extraordinary. As universities, we should be their platform and their incubators,” she insisted.
Arora referred to the discussion in the UK policy update panel, wherein the idea of extending part-time working hours for international students, and by how much, was a hot topic.
“However, we don’t have a direct route [for international students] to the startup eco-system.
“So we must ask, do we have a Silicon Valley-esque feature for international students? For instance, come to study here, start their businesses here, bring that diversity of perspective and solve those global issues but solve them from Britain – so that we can have the companies of the future instead of losing them to the US,” Arora added.
