WALKING along Jacinto Street in Davao City, you would quickly notice the unusual number of Indian nationals walking around, hanging out in groups, filling the convenience store. All of them, young.

Whats up?

The Bureau of Immigration (BI)-Davao has confirmed that the number of Indian students have more than doubled this year.

In a data provided by BI-Davao student desk agent Ryan Bandigan, there are currently 687 Indian students enrolled in Davao City, more than double the number tallied last year at 334. Of this years total, 227 have filed for conversion from tourist visas to student visas, 398 have filed for extensions while 62 were granted the special study permit.

Bandigan said that there are some 700 to 800 tourist visas that are pending for student visa conversion.

Kasagarananisailakay enrolled sa Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) paramagstudyug medicine human ang lain kaydirinapud nag-enroll parasailang pre-med nga education (Most of the them have enrolled in DMSF to study medicine while others have also enrolled for their pre-med education here.) Bandigan said.

Why here?

Rajesh, a second year med student at the DMSF who requested that his full name be kept unpublished, told Sun.Star Davao in an interview that he chose to study in the Philippines, particularly in Davao City since the acceptance of students in the med schools in India have become stringent.

Students there have small opportunities to study medicine since the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) cutoff there is 200 which is very high. There are also grade requirements there even for high school graduates. So if you dont have good grades after graduating high school, there is a slim chance of getting into med school, Rajesh said.

But the NMAT cutoff is not a measure of the quality of education as Rajesh said that while the NMAT cutoff in the Philippines is low, he said the education here is still very comprehensive.

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Indians in school