‘Total sabotage’: Europeans claim Indians ‘gaming’ education system, earning €1,400 a month | World News –

A recent video shared by an Indian student studying in Europe sparked widespread backlash online. European residents are accusing students of Indian origin of “cheating” their education system while allegedly being paid €1,400 a month.In the video being widely circulated on X, an Indian student said that the European Union was paying him 1,400 euros a month to study in Europe. “That covers rent, travel and meals without any student debt,” the young man said. He added that besides saving on spending, he saves 600 euros every month, which is equivalent to about 60 thousand Indian rupees. He claimed that there are three essentials to be able to live the same life, which are a bachelor’s degree, a valid passport and proficiency in the English language.

He described them as “the secrets of the elite scholarship,” adding that the IELTS test is not “always mandatory.”Many Europeans took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustration at the EU paying students to study in Europe, while indigenous students suffered. “Europe is literally paying Indians €1,400 a month to ‘study’ here while our students can’t pay the rent and are drowning in debt. This guy is literally bragging about cheating the system with a degree worth less than a high school diploma in the West.

Complete sabotage of our educational system and you are the one paying the bill. “Peak comedy,” one user wrote on X. Another added: “Indian migration to Europe and the US has become a problem. They are not even integrating. I don’t mind having a few Indians here and there but what is happening now is too much.” “This is a wild situation. It’s crazy how some people game the system like this!” One condemned.

However, many others have pointed out that taxes paid by Indians with high-paying jobs in Europe are good for the region’s economy.

“If these students are highly qualified and end up getting well-paying technical jobs in the destination country (such as Finland), their lifetime tax contributions will be much larger than the scholarships they receive,” they wrote. “The challenge is to select talent and retaining it is not beneficial in and of itself.”

While another added that immigrants are needed given the low birth rate in Europe. “Europe needs these children, as Europeans have been brainwashed not to have children themselves.

And those who get education are actually the most valuable to the continent. Your framing could have been successful if there had actually been a growing number of European youth.” What the Indian student seems to be referring to is the Erasmus Mundus scholarship offered by the European Union. It is a fully funded scholarship for international students to study in top European universities. It covers tuition fees, travel and monthly living expenses for the joint master’s program and applies in multiple countries.

In 2022, only 161 students from India qualified for the scholarship, with 146 fewer in 2024.

The deluge of posts against Indian students online appears to highlight the broader anti-immigration discourse around them, taking place in Europe and America. In November 2025, UK Minister for Indo-Pacific Affairs Seema Malhotra cited an increase in student asylum applications, calling it “visa abuse.” However, Indian student migration to the UK has already fallen by 11% in 2025, compared to 2024, due to tightening of immigration rules.