INDIA: LATEST UPDATES

India’s tally of confirmed COVID cases has now crossed 7 million, but there is also a declining trend of daily new cases in the last five weeks.

As per the World Economic Outlook report, India’s economy is expected to contract by 10.3% in the financial year 2020-21 in the wake of its COVID-19 induced lockdown. IMF, on the other hand, has projected that the Indian economy will deliver an impressive recovery of 8.8% growth, higher than the 6% growth rate predicted in June this year.

The unforeseen pandemic wrecked havoc across economies and businesses, but the Indian education sector rose to make the best of the situation. Educational institutions navigated through challenges and have discovered fresh opportunities for the present and the future. Institutions are finding new options for online and hybrid models which will permit cost-effective and efficient utilization of resources.

Top Indian institutions are trying to see COVID as an opportunity to make technological contributions towards its fight. Over 4.5 million PPEs have been supplied through IIT Delhi developed technologies in the last six months. The world’s most affordable RT-PCR kit has also come from the research efforts of this institute. IIT Guwahati recently entered into various agreements with academia and industries to foster academic and research activities and to enhance its global outreach and strengthen existing international collaborations. An agreement has been signed for the International Cooperative Graduate Programme which will provide joint doctoral research guidance to Ph.D. students of IIT Guwahati at NIMS, Japan.

The Higher Education Commission of India will soon lay down norms and accord approvals for setting up campuses in India by reputed foreign universities.

The New Zealand-India Education Week had discussions on trends that will drive the future of education globally in the post Covid-19 era. It also presented panel discussions featuring some prominent names in the education industry from New Zealand and India.

SUBCONTINENT & SOUTHEAST ASIA UPDATES

Pakistan: Last month, Pakistan reopened all educational institutions after a period of six months since the pandemic hit. Despite some uncertainty and fear of a second wave brought on by the winter season, the country has no plans to shut down educational institutions again. Internet access in Pakistan remains one of the greatest challenges that the pandemic has given rise to, further growing the divide between private school students and those who do not have access to the internet or any digital means of learning. The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Hyderabad declared that 99.82% of candidates enrolled in the Secondary School Certificate passed their exams.

Bangladesh: As a preventive measure against further spread of COVID, the Government has extended the closure of all educational institutions till 31 October. The 2 October meeting between the education ministers of Bangladesh and India had them agreeing in principle to cooperating on holding joint seminars, arranging study tours on educational reforms, and cooperation between educationists of the two countries. A three-day virtual international webinar on ‘Living with Covid-19: Impact on Higher Education in India and Bangladesh’ was held from 10-13 October, jointly organized by Jagannath University’s Institute of Education and Research (IER), Council for Teacher Education Foundation (CTEF) of Bangladesh and Council of Educational Administration and Management (CEAM) of India.

Nepal:  Nepal is now allowing universities and colleges across the country to conduct exams as long as they are ensuring social distancing and other safety measures enforced in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. MPhil exams have been conducted by Tribhuvan University, and preparations to hold other examinations are ongoing and will most likely be held from mid-November. An evaluation committee comprising of practically qualified teachers will look into other ways of conducting examinations under the present scenario.

Sri Lanka: The Education Ministry held the Grade Five scholarship examination as well as the Advanced Level examination across the country. This year’s recipients of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education included Shilpa Sayura Foundation of Sri Lanka for its project ‘NextGen Girls in Technology’ which is helping young women in high schools and universities improve their analytical, logical, and creative thinking through technology. China and Sri Lanka had discussions on entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the education sector.

Vietnam: Following the ratification of the EVFTA, the UK and Vietnam are working on a bilateral free trade agreement to further strengthen trade and economic growth between the two countries, which is expected to be finalized by the end of 2020. The UK is the largest foreign investor in the education industry in Vietnam. The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency reported that foreign capital investment for education in Vietnam has risen by nearly 58% to US$78.89 million this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philippines: Classes resumed in the Philippines on 5 October. School enrolments are 3 million lower than last year’s 27.7 million students. A majority of the unenrolled students are from private schools, and over 400,000 of them have transferred to public schools. The U.S. Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), turned over 150 laptop computers, printers, projectors, and 80 sets of learning materials to the Department of Education (DepEd) as part of the United States’ ongoing commitment to support the Philippine government’s Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan amid the pandemic.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: TOP STUDY DESTINATIONS

USA

• The US announced significant changes to the H-1B visa program for highly-skilled workers, which include substantially raising the wages U.S. companies must pay foreign hires and narrowing eligibility criteria for applicants.
• According to data collected by Times Higher Education, public universities in California, Florida and Maryland are the most financially vulnerable to a fall in international student recruitment. At the other end of the scale, public institutions in Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina are the least affected by a drop in international students.

UK

• 68 UK campuses reported 9000 COVID cases in the past week out of a nationwide student population of about 2 million.
• British Council has announced a new program to facilitate joint research projects between UK and Russian universities. 10 UK universities confirmed projects with their Russian counterparts and 40 more will participate in online forums.
• UCAS data revealed that the number of students from outside the EU accepted into undergraduate courses has risen by 9% to a record of 44,300. A majority of non-EU students come from China and India.

New Zealand

• Wellington may open its borders for international students as early as next month. 250 students would qualify, with the first likely to arrive in November.  A priority will be placed on postgraduates with valid visas who need to be in the country to undertake lab work.

Sweden

• ‘Study in Sweden’ has announced a series of virtual fairs with some 24 universities for prospective students between 16 October and 7 November. Sweden Council of Higher Education figures suggest a 13% increase in the number of students admitted to international master’s degree programs.

MAPLE INITIATIVES

• The Fanshawe Worldwide Fair was held on 9 and 10 October for all applied and prospective international students. Maple Assist came on board as the digital partner for South Asia. The 2-day virtual event included an advising center for students to meet regional advisors and academic and non-academic workshops of interest. The event was a resounding success and saw over 1700 unique participants from the South Asia market.
• Maple Assist hosted the University of Lethbridge for an Instagram Live on 12 October. Vidhi Mathur, International Recruitment Consultant, talked to the 120+ viewers about programs, admission processes, scholarships, and various opportunities for international students at the University.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• For International Recruitment Solutions: https://worldeduconnect.com/
• Maple Assist curated Blog: https://www.mapleassist.com/blogs/
• Scotiabank Resources for Newcomers to Canada: https://startright.scotiabank.com/covid-19-resources.html
• Maple Assist Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXFhQ5_uIF4cQLidiOO_m-Q
• Past Newsletters: https://worldeduconnect.com/resources/