Foreign lure: 6 lakh Punjabis appear for IELTS, TOEFL annually

Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, April 30

With nearly six lakh students appearing for the English proficiency test annually in Punjab, conducted by various testing agencies, the state has become a lucrative market. As the number of students opting for the exam is increasing every year, making Punjab’s love for foreign shores evident, major testing agencies are vying to have a bigger share of the market.

After language testing exams such as IELTS (International English Language Testing System), PTE (Pearson Test of English), LanguageCert, Skills for English, CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program), the latest to expand its market aggressively is TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) conducted by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

If a student or a job seeker wants to move abroad, he/she has to clear the English proficiency test. The students opt for proficiency test, which are accepted by the respective university, or employers in the respective country.

According to insiders, around 80 to 85 per cent students appearing for the English proficiency test in Punjab opt for the IELTS, followed by PTE (10 per cent), while the remaining prefer other language test.

To have a bigger share of the market, ETS announced a series of changes in the English language proficiency test to create an optimal experience for those appearing for it. For example, TOEFL will now take less than two hours to complete instead of three hours and the candidates will be able to see their official score upon the completion of the test. The changes will be effective from July 26.

Mohammad Kousha, Vice President, Global Growth and Languages at the ETS, said, “Punjab is a growing market for us. So, we were keen to identify ways to provide additional support and access to candidates here to accommodate the increasing demand. The seven new state-of-the-art test centres will provide an optimal environment, enabling candidates to showcase their best performance. Our growing footprint in Punjab will support not only for the candidate but also for our study abroad and immigration consultants’ network.”

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have been the leading destinations for students based in Punjab. Especially, the number of students keen to study in Canada has increased substantially over the years.

“There are growing aspirations among the youth to study abroad. So, in order to assist them, various testing bodies are expanding their base by opening up their centres even in small cities of the rural Punjab,” said Ashutosh Anand, managing director, Touchstone Educationals.

According to immigrations experts, the craze to settle abroad and fewer job opportunities in the state are the major reasons behind the growing trend of studying abroad. Students are also fascinated by the modern lifestyle in other countries.