At least thirty six (36) Zambian students are stranded in various parts of India for various reasons like failure by parents to sustain payment of fees.

According to a statement issued by Zambia’s First Secretary to India Bangwe Naviley, Zambia’s High Commissioner to India Judith Kapijimpanga said other students had committed offences such as drug abuse while a number have failed examinations but were scared of informing their parents.

High Commissioner Kapijimpanga said the students could not leave the airports because it was a requirement in India that their schools issued them with No Objection Travel Certificates which indicated that they complied with Indian laws forcing many to start engaging in negative vices for them to survive.

She said she was confident that a solution would be found as Higher Education Minister Professor Nkandu Luo had promised to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the removal of all stranded students.

She says it was saddening that most parents simply sent their children for studies in India without informing the mission but only got to know when students had been arrested or failed to pay school fees.

High Commissioner Kapijimpanga said at least 300 Zambian students were documented to be in India studying in various institutions of higher learning.

She has urged Zambian parents to consult the Zambian mission in New Delhi on education services in India before sending their children.