By Manpreet Singh Bhatia
Jamshedpur: Over the years Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai have attracted steel city students and undoubtedly these cities have been among the most favoured destinations for higher studies, thanks to the poor education system of the state.
After plus 2 majority of the students leave Jamshedpur and migrate to Southern and western part of the country for a bright future. But in the last couple of years there has been a shift in trend as neighboring states of Odissa and West Bengal are wooing city students like never before. The main reason behind the change is safety and less travelling. Students are showing much interest in Bhubaneswar the capital city of Odissa which is on the verge of becoming the educational hub of the east.
�We face tougher times living and studying far away from our home town and parents are also worried time and again as regular violence in Maharashtra has led students to live in fear. At that point of time we have to run towards our city and the unavailability of reserved berth in trains makes life more difficult as travelling from more 1700 km can be tough with train travel as the only option�, said Rishabh Raj, Student of Indra College, Pune.
Raj further said that many of his friends who opted for Kolkata and Bhubaneswar can easily meet their family on weekends.
Apart from railways, road connectivity is an option available when the distance is less, said Md. Shemab, an engineering student of CV Raman College, Bhubaneswar.
�If you are financially strong, making your child study at top colleges of Mumbai, New Delhi or Bangalore is not a big task. But for the lower middle class families, the cost of living in big cities becomes tough and for that neighboring states where the quality of education has improved over the years are a big boon to the students and parents,� said Manoj Yadav, a parent whose daughter is pursuing civil engineering from College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar.
Neha Kashyap, a student of KIIT, Bhubaneswar says both our neighboring states West Bengal and Odissa are very safe compared to other states of the country and their social and cultural outlook is similar to that of Jamshedpur which makes it easy for us to settle there for studies.
Neighboring states ahead of Jharkhand in quality education
It has been more than 14 years since the formation of Jharkhand but the parents of industrial town are still searching for �education culture� in the state which seems far from reality.
High living standard and expensive education in the metros is losing out to cheap living and studying in Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. Every year, crowds of students move towards Bhubaneswar mainly for engineering studies, while for graduation and other bachelor degree courses they opt for Kolkata. Earlier this trend was associated with New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai but with expenses going up the trend has shifted.
Bhubaneswar, a hub for engineering
In comparison to Jamshedpur, neighboring Bhubaneswar has vast opportunities for students seeking engineering. There are lots of colleges to chocse from including IIT Bhubaneswar, College of Engineering and Technology, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, International Institute of Information and Technology, Shiksha Om Anandbhusan University, CV Raman College of Engineering, Silicon Institute of Technology to name a few.
Kolkata: home to famous colleges
Nearest metro and top education centre of the eastern region has been attracting large number of students from Jamshedpur and the trend is growing.
The main reason behind this is the presence of renowned colleges like St. Xavier�s, University of Kolkata, Jadavpur University, Presidency College, West Bengal University of Technology, Heritage University, Shanti Niketan and the list goes on.
