EDU-CONNECT ASIA 5 August 2020

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INDIA: LATEST UPDATES

India has registered about 1.86m case counts to date, with the maximum number of cases coming from states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The recovery rate has climbed to a healthy 66.1% and the fatality rate declined to 2.10%, as stated by the Health Minister.

While the Union government has issued new guidelines for ‘Unlock 3.0’, allowing opening up of all services except those in the containment zones, several states, on the other hand, have extended their lockdown till the end of August to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. States that have re-imposed lockdown are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Bihar.

The air bubble agreement for International flights between India and countries like USA, UK, France, Germany and UAE is back as the ban on foreign travel has been extended to August 31. Some of the International airlines that are currently in a reciprocal arrangement with India are United Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Lufthansa, British Airways, Turkish and Delta Airlines who are operating repatriation flights to India.

EDUCATION NEWS

UGC’s stance is clear that universities will have to conduct final year exams and hand out degrees by September end. Those who cannot appear or may not pass will be allowed to sit for exams again.

The Union Cabinet has approved the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, that aims to reform the education system in line with Industry 4.0, after a long gap of 34 years. It proposes some revolutionary changes such as:

  • Replacing  the 10+2 structure of school education with a reconfigured pedagogy of 5+3+3+4 design
  • Replacing UGC and the AICTE with the Higher Education Commission of India
  • Opening up Indian higher education sector for foreign institutions
  • Reintroduction of the 4-years multidisciplinary bachelor’s programme, with exit options
  • Flexibility to institutions to offer different designs for master’s programmes
  • National Research Foundation will be created to foster a strong research culture

For our comprehensive summary of India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, please read here.

SUBCONTINENT & SOUTHEAST ASIA UPDATES

Pakistan: Pakistan has reached a Covid count of 280,027. Baluchistan province’s government has extended the ‘smart lockdown’ to curb the spread of the coronavirus till August 17. International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank sanctioned the $200 million loan for the ‘Action to Strengthen Performance for Inclusive and Responsive Education Programme (ASPIRE)’, supporting Pakistan’s efforts to safely reopen schools. The Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) has suggested an indispensable need to cut short the daily timetable to minimum 3 or maximum 4 lectures daily to deliver lessons effectively in this anxious environment. All education institutions in Pakistan will reopen from September 15, as announced by the Education Minister. However, the federal government will review its decision prior to this deadline.

Bangladesh: Extended restrictions are imposed in the country till August 31 and the number of people infected is now over 2,40,000. The Education Ministry has shared a press release urging citizens to not believe rumours about reopening of educational institutions. When a decision will be made in this regard, students will be informed through the media. Students who have passed the SSC and equivalent examinations can apply for college admissions online from August 9 to September 15.  Many public universities are in fear of session jams caused by the closure of 5 months. Most private universities are conducting online classes to complete their ongoing semesters.

Nepal:  With 218 new cases on Monday, Nepal’s COVID-19 tally reaches 21,009. As the government rolls out plans for schools to resume, it is preparing to reduce the prescribed study hours for the new academic year. It was decided to admit students from August 18 and plan to resume classes from the 1st week of September. While the government is preparing to publish the results of Secondary Education Examination (SEE) based on the candidates’ assessment by their own schools, and on the Grade 11 results, no decision has been made on Grade 12.

Sri Lanka: An assigned Task Force has recommended that the number of national schools in the country be increased to 1000 from the current number of 345 national schools across the island. Academic activities for Grades 11, 12 and 13 at all government schools resumed on July 27. All other grades will begin classes on August 10 with less than 200 students. The Ministry of Education has decided to hold the 2020 GCE Advanced Level Examination between October 12 to November 06 and the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination on October 11.

Vietnam: After more than 3 months with no reports of local transmission, new cases have been found in six cities and provinces in the past week and authorities are scrambling to contain the new outbreak. The Education Ministry stated that students can sit for their National High School exams on August 9-10 as planned in localities not constrained by social distancing. The remaining quarantined students can sit for the exams in a later phase.

Philippines: With a total number of 113,000 coronavirus cases, Philippines has reported 6,352 new cases which is Southeast Asia’s biggest daily jump. The capital and nearby provinces returned to strict lockdown for two weeks. Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that the educational institutions are ready to open classes in August, despite the ongoing pandemic, with flexible learning involving a combination of digital and non-digital technology.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: TOP STUDY DESTINATIONS

USA

  • New students who are not already enrolled as of March 9 will likely not be able to obtain visas if they intend to pursue courses that are entirely online.
  • New IIE survey of higher education institutions shows that 92% will shift to new instruction approach for Fall 2020 semester. 84% anticipate ending the Fall 2020 semester early in preparation for a possible second wave of COVID-19
  • US welcomes India’s new education policy which allows foreign universities to establish campuses in India and Indian universities to do the same in other countries.

UK

  • The Home Office announced it will be giving foreign nationals a one-month extension, and visa holders can apply for an ‘exceptional indemnity’ from within the UK latest by August 31- for those whose visas expired between 24 Jan 2020 and 31 July 2020.
  • UK Conservative Think Tank has called for caps on the number of international students from any one country into local universities to boost resilience and wean institutions off this financial dependence.
  • UK suspends digital visa processing tool in the midst of a legal challenge that claimed it amounted to ‘racism’ as the computer algorithm discriminated against applicants on the basis of nationality by design.
  • British Boarding Schools Association, which represents 500 schools in the UK, will charter flights from China next month to ensure that international pupils can arrive safely in the UK for the start of their September term.

Ireland

  • Immigration officials have announced a new online visa renewal system for Dublin based students from outside the EU.
  • Ireland announces ease of travel for students of 15 countries who will no longer need to undertake a mandatory quarantine on arrival. 

Australia

  • Australia has confirmed that even new international students will be eligible for measures allowing students to continue online studies overseas towards their post study work permit.
  • The Government plans to increase university tuition fees for Humanities subjects and reduce them for ‘job relevant’ STEM courses.
  • Offshore student visa numbers dropped by a third (33.5%) during 2019-2020 as compared to the previous year: Nepal dropped by 60.7%, India by 46.7% and China by 19.9%.

New Zealand

  • A cabinet paper shows that the New Zealand Government wants to use the pandemic to transform the $5 billion international student sector by shifting the market to higher value enrolments with a greater focus on academic quality and less emphasis on working rights for foreign students.
  • “Export Education Services” have been hard hit resulting in the Government announcing a $51m support package for the international education sector in an effort to stabilise the sector after the massive loss of international students.
  • A new online course that aims to prevent international student drownings has been launched as part of a partnership between Water Safety New Zealand and education agent association, AgentBee.

Maple Initiatives

  • Q&A Live session with Canadian immigration lawyer Josh Schachnow is planned on Maple Assist’s Instagram on 7 August. The online session is part of a running series which aims to answer queries of concerned students and sheds light on IRCC developments that will impact international students. Catch it this Friday at 9.00am ET/6.30pm IST.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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