India has seen a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases post the Lockdown 3.0. A majority of the spike in cases was accounted for by the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Many states are in favour of extending the lockdown yet at the same time are calling for regulated relaxations. Lockdown 4.0 with new rules will be in force from May 18th. CBSE will conduct the remaining Grade 12 exams in the first two weeks of July. India opened inter-state travel on May 12th for the first time after March 24th, partially resuming passenger train services from Delhi to 15 other major cities across India. But some states have opposed the resumption of train services. Meanwhile, some reports suggest that airlines could restart domestic operations from May 18th, formal announcement from Civil Aviation Ministry is awaited. 

Current Status

As per the updates provided by government regulatory bodies, COVID-19 cases are on a rise but showing signs of decline in doubling rate in many countries. The COVID-19 situation is not the same in the subcontinent and in SE Asia region. The details of affected regions as on May 13th, 2020 are given below:

Bangladesh has extended the lockdown until May 16th. The decision on Higher Secondary Exams will be taken after the lockdown is lifted. College admission process will begin after HSC exam results are published.

Nepal extended lockdown till May 18th. Dates for Secondary Education Examination (SEE) have not been announced yet, but the government is planning to conduct exams in phases.

Vietnam had ended lockdown on April 22nd and has not registered any new case in the last five days. Schools have resumed. High school examinations will be conducted in August. The level of difficulty will be reduced, as the quality of online classes held between February and April was deemed sub-standard. This year universities are recommended to give more weightage to their own entrance exams to qualify students for enrolment.

Philippines will end the nationwide lockdown after May 15th, but some regions may continue to remain under lockdown. The decision to lift restrictions will be based on regional case counts. Private schools may open in June but in-person classes may not begin before August. National Achievement Tests for grade 12 may be held on different dates in different regions.

Sri Lanka relaxed lockdown from May 11th, but all schools and universities remain closed. GCE A/L Exams will be held in August.

Recent Updates

University Grants Commission has released exam details and academic calendar for the universities and colleges. UGC said the intermediate semester students will be graded based on internal assessment while the exams for the terminal semester will be held in the month of July 2020.

CBSE has announced to hold the pending exams from July 1 to 15, the result is expected to be out by August-end. As many as 29 exams are will be re-conducted, most of them are for subjects important for college admission.

ISC will conduct examinations of pending subjects within a period of 6-8 days after the release of lockdown.

State board Grade 12 exams are scheduled in July, it seems state of Kerala where no new case reported will be first to conduct exams. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are also preparing to conduct exams in June if the situation got better.

Agent Feedback Survey

Maple Assist has conducted an exclusive survey to receive feedback from some of the top study abroad consultants in South Asia. The objective of this survey was to study the international education space from the perspective of agents who roughly contribute up to 90% of all enrollments in this region. We have tried to assess their sentiments towards the response of Canadian institutions and government and additionally, to get their comparative outlook on how other top study destinations such as US, UK and Australia have been reacting faced with the same situation. One of the most critical insights that emerged from this study relates to leveraging technology in reaching out to prospective and the current pool of applicants.

Download the report on agent feedback survey here:

Maple Assist And Maple Leaf Initiatives

Maple Assist powered webinar for Durham College on May 4th was a great success with the participation of over 300 applicants. We will be conducting a similar session with the Georgian College applicants on May 18th. Our yet another webinar on May 14th King’s University College will be crucial in providing information to prospective applicants for future intakes.