Indian medical students will now have to learn Mandarin to study in China

• Indians planning to study medicine in China may have to learn Mandarin language to enroll in MBBS programmes in the country.
  
• The Ministry of Education (MoE) rolled out an official list of 45 universities in China which are qualified for an MBBS degree programme in English.
  
• China opened its doors to foreign students in 2003, and has as many as 500,000 students.
  
• In China, medical education costs nearly ₹300,000 to ₹500,000 for government-authorized universities.

More Indians are opting to study in China, given the affordability of education as compared to the US and Australia. But those looking to gain medical degrees from the country, will now face a roadblock--of language.

They might have to learn Mandarin to enroll in the country’s MBBS programmes.

The government of China is allowing only 45 of its universities to teach MBBS in English. There are over 200 universities in the country offering medical courses.

“It has been clearly mentioned by the Chinese MOE that teaching MBBS course under a bilingual (English/Chinese) model is strictly forbidden. The MOE has also informed that the list of universities will be regularly reviewed and updated in due course,” PTI reported citing Indian Embassy.

China opened its doors to foreign students in 2003, and now there are as many as 500,000 of them.

As many as 23,000 Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities — and more than 21,000 of them opt for medicine.

To avoid confusion among aspiring doctors, Indian Embassy removed the Chinese universities that do not offer courses in English from its website. However, the students who are presently enrolled in any university other than those listed by the government are learning Chinese language to get through the course.

In China, medicine education costs nearly ₹300,000 to ₹500,000 for government-authorized universities. In India, the tuition costs can range anywhere between ₹1 million to ₹3 million.

You can view the list of universities on the official website of Ministry of Education, China.

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