Bhubaneswar: Even though foreign universities and colleges have always been attractive destinations for Indian students for higher studies, dreams of many of them got shattered by the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
The universities and colleges apparently have an edge over Indian institutions with regard to world-class education infrastructure and study atmosphere, their due emphasis on experimental and practical studies rather than theoretical ones among others.
However, the Covid-induced international travel restrictions have ruined the plans. Stringent travel curbs have been imposed in countries like the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA).
Speaking on the issue, Jitin Chadha, an Educationist and Edupreneur and Founder & Director of Indian School of Business & Finance, said the current situation has delayed or altogether crashed the plans of studying abroad. A recent survey by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a renowned education analytics firm, suggests that 48 per cent of Indian students who were looking forward to go abroad for higher education have had to alter their plans. “There seem to be two types of reactions to the pandemic. First, there are some students who have dropped their plans, since the top destinations like the UK, US, Canada, etc. are the worst affected by Covid-19. Second, some students either already have offers or are expecting offers from foreign universities and are still optimistic about their chances of going abroad,” he said. However, as uncertainly looms over the offer letters and visa processes, these students have now begun to look for back-up options in India.
Meanwhile, the strict travel restrictions have opened up opportunities for many institutes in India to connect with international universities and help the students avail study with foreign universities by staying in the country, said Amiya Kumar Rath, an educationist.
Stating that this can be the future of studies, Rath said, “The scope of learning things practically is limited in our country because of lack of experiment and research set-up. However, due to pandemic travelling will be limited and restricted till the year-end. Many students who are presently stuck in other countries are now studying online and this might be done in India too.”
“New Zealand, which became the first Covid-free country, has now emerged as the new education hotspot beating USA and UK,” said Jagannath Tripathy Regional Manager of Global Reach education Consultancy.
“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has recently lifted all the coronavirus restrictions with effect from June 9. More than 1,000 students from Odisha are studying in various foreign universities. For the first semester many foreign universities are giving option of less fees for the online classes. Many of the students and their parents are ready for this because they don’t want to waste time and also this helps them stay safe.”
He said that international flight operations are likely to resume by next month but the decisions of the destination countries are more important.
Alok Kumar Lal, a medical career counselor and MD of Wise Education group, said many students are still interested in studying abroad especially for medical courses “but as NEET exam has been deferred till July 26, we have to wait for the exam.” Ukraine is still top option for the medical studies and more than 150 students from the state are still studying in the country, he added.
Pratyush Das, a graduate from Oklahoma State University, who has returned to Bhubaneswar from the USA, said, “I will tell those who want to study abroad to wait till the pandemic subsides. They could also enrol themselves for online programs, he added.
Chadha concluded that the dip in number of students going abroad will clearly direct many more towards Indian educational institutions this year, and also in coming years. And, those who were truly looking for education of international quality would naturally turn to the institutions in India who are providing the education at par with their internationals counterpart.
Arindam Ganguly, OP