Contrary to general perception that only Indian techies and entrepreneurs are in demand globally, for the past couple of years, the focus of Indian immigration has shifted to teachers who have joined the gallery of India's 'global citizens.'

Experts say Indian teachers who have educational advantage over other Commonwealth countries in subjects like English, Science and Mathematics, have huge potential to tap new avenues in the field of teaching globally.

"The trend in the field of IT (information technology) has given a boost to the demand of Indian labour, but with the IT sector tottering for last few years and laws in some of the developed countries limiting overseas employment in the sector, focus has started to shift towards other fields, like teaching and nursing," says K Pandian Rajan, managing director, Mafoi, a leading recruitment agency in the country.

"Also with globalisation and Internet, English has become a global language and under these circumstances countries like Germany and France have realised that promoting local languages at the expense of English would have disastrous consequences for their economy," says A K Motwani, director (technical), Educational Consultants India Limited, which sends hundreds of teachers abroad every year.

"So they have started looking towards India, which is known for its high quality education and teachers who have good command over English language," Motwani adds.

These days, the United States and the United Kingdom are also emerging as new markets for Indian teachers, who earlier took teaching jobs in non-English speaking countries in South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

According to a survey by the US education department, the country would need more than a million teachers over the next decade.

"At present there are more than 22,000 teaching jobs up for the grabs in the United Kingdom itself and an estimated 10 per cent of this are for Indians," says Rajan.

Talking about the sudden spurt in demand for Indian teachers, Rajan says, "In both these countries, teachers are poorly paid compared to other professionals. The local population is reluctant to join the profession hence the schools have started hiring teachers from India."

Typically, the school boards contact recruitment agencies which in turn advertise the vacancies in India for qualified candidates.

After the applicants are vetted, school officials either come to India or interview potential candidates over phone, or in some cases through video-conferencing, before employing them.

But, experts say, the hurdles do not end with immigration, rather the actual problem begins only after the teachers start teaching in their new schools abroad.

"Although before teachers leave India, we brief them about the conditions in the schools in the country they are immigrating and adequately prepare them in communication and interpersonal skills, essential to function in alien conditions, there have been cases where teachers have found it difficult to adjust to the new atmosphere," Rajan says.

"From the feedback we have received from our teachers abroad, the biggest difference they say is students in India are more disciplined and respect the teacher a lot more. In western countries, class management is the main issue because children there have far too many distractions," Motwani adds.

On the flip side, the number of students in each class is much less as compared to India and there are wonderful teaching tools such as computers with Internet to overhead projectors, which are not available in a large number of schools in India.

"Although the teaching aids available in the schools abroad are much superior than those in India, there you go to school each day with a blank heart. In India, we get real respect that a guru (teacher) should get from a shishya (student)," says Sanjana Sharma, a teacher who recently returned to India after completing her contract with a school at Pennsylvania in the US.

But this has not dissuaded the teachers from accepting job offers abroad and the money factor takes over. And if the trend continues with its present pace, teachers may follow IT professionals and engineers as the next group of professionals to leave India in large numbers.