Not only countries like China and America but the whole world has been affected by the Coronavirus which has taken its toll on a large scale. Every day hundreds and thousands of new cases are coming up. Coronavirus can be spread even through minimal sort of contacts like shaking hands or hugging.
The country to be affected the most by the Coronavirus is China which had to start its Spring Semester in March. The whole education oof schools, college, and universities have come to a sudden halt when all the institutes had to be shut due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Many universities had to start their session in March couldn’t even start with their studies.
This sudden outbreak of the Coronavirus has affected the students who had to go for their studies into other countries. India is the second nation following China which produces students for going abroad for their studies. The United States, UK, and Australia are some of the most popular destinations for students. Now COVID-19 has posed as a major challenge for these students who wanted to pursue their international education.
How COVID-19 has evolved as a major challenge for the students?
There are a lakhs of students who dream to pursue their studies on international land. But with Coronavirus the borders of many countries have been closed and the government is constantly asking people to avoid traveling abroad as much as they can.
But in the midst of it all, some students prepare for TOEFL, IELTS and other such exams, do all the procedures for Visa, select their destination for studying who have no other choice but to postpone their plans.
Even the host universities which were offering studies various courses have no choice are facing distress because if the fall in their budgets too! The whole world is now even facing economical problems because of Coronavirus.
How did Coronavirus evolve?
Coronavirus in the first few weeks was only limited to the grounds of China. People on international grounds were not in fear of this virus being spread. Countries began to call their students from China from preventing them to spread to their kids. But slowly with traveling and contact the virus has now spread to the whole world.
In the year 2019, many students from India had traveled to the US, Australia, UK, and Canada. The count was approximately 7.5 lakhs. But COVID-19 has disembarked the dream of many Indians and students from abroad who wanted to travel to these countries.
Not only the students who had to start their session in March and April are suffering but even the young students whose academic year had to start in August and September are also facing issues. COVID-19 has posed a problem for the students who had to start their academic studies later this year because no one wishes to go outside. Applying for Visa and all other problems have now come to a halt.
Many of the students have opted out of their plans to study abroad. Many of those students who were still in the “planning-phase” had to drop out of this idea. Visa rejection can also pose a problem because all airports are trying to minimize travel.
How can Coronavirus be a problem?
These are some of the problems that institutes and students around the world are facing currently.
- Visa rejections
- Minimizing travel to foreign lands
- Procedures for contacting the study counselors
- Universities not starting
- Courses being at a halt
If the following problems continue to pose, this will hinder the education of lakhs of international students from around the world. If COVID-19 is not controlled on a large scale (expected to be more than half the cases), then coronavirus can come as a huge reason for the decline in the number of students in the months to come.
What’s happening to the students who are already in foreign lands?
Countries from all over the world are trying to incorporate the online medium of education on a maximum scale. Even those students who had to enroll in the semester which was scheduled to start in the months of the outbreak might take the same step. Many prestigious universities are trying to take up this method.
According to the established rule, students are allowed to only take one online class in a semester but with Coronavirus spreading so rapidly, there could be relaxation on this problem especially to the students who are still in their homeland.
Implementation of online classes and online distribution of resources through the official portal of the websites will help international students aspiring to study internationally while maintaining their course. Online classes will help to not cause a huge decline in the rate of the immigration rate of the students.
But students who had to take practical training for options such as Curricular Practical Training and Optional Practical training might be affected the most. There are some courses which even require you to move to the workplace. Such students in these types of courses can contact their network to maintain their course of employment.
How badly has Coronavirus affected students who had planned to go abroad for their further studies?
Students who had aspired to take Masters or Bachelors have to halt their plans for a while now. Admission tests and other exams have mostly been postponed. Most of the institutes of the majority of the countries have fully suspended their classes. The prospective international students are facing problems the most!
The SAT Exam which was to be conducted on 14 March has been canceled by the administration department in more than 15 countries affecting lakhs of students who had prepared for it already.
Mainland China has even canceled their language proficiency exams as a gathering of students can result in the danger of the spread of the Coronavirus on a rapid scale.
The ETS is in contact with college and has already notified the students of the cancellation. Universities are also trying to be flexible on their dates, deadlines for enrollment and applications. For example, The University of Akron has shifted their summer semester International students to the Autumn Fall Semester 2020.3.19
The universities and the government of all the countries facing the epidemic of the Coronavirus are trying their best not to affect the long term goals of their students.