EDUCONNECT ASIA 16 September 2020

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INDIA: LATEST UPDATES

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India has now surpassed 5 million. However, there have been over 3.8 million recoveries as well. In fact, India’s recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 78.28 percent. Additionally, the overall case-fatality ratio has been declining steadily and has now come down to 1.64 percent.

Currently, India is taking appropriate steps in the unlocking process with ‘Unlock 4.0’ underway. As part of the unlock, most states have further eased their pandemic induced restrictions on the movement of people and public transport. With guidelines being suggested for reopening of schools and colleges, it was believed that educational institutions would open from 1 September. However, seeing the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country, schools and colleges will stay closed till 30 September.

What Unlock 4.0 means for Schools and Colleges:

  • Permission has been granted for online and distance learning for various kinds of educational institutions
  • Students of classes 9 to 12 are allowed to visit their school to take guidance from their teachers
  • Universities, Colleges and Skill Training institutes offering technical and professional programs that require laboratory / experimental work are permitted to open with limited access from 21 September.
  • Universities, educational institutions, and examination conducting authorities may plan out examination schedule in a staggered manner. This will allow IELTS centers to open in more cities and students can register for test dates at nearby centers.  

As per the OCED report, institutions must develop a new and improved value proposition that addresses the needs of the international student population that is less willing to cross borders to study, with students unlikely to commit large amounts of time and money on online content.

SUBCONTINENT & SOUTHEAST ASIA UPDATES

Pakistan: Pakistan has reported 539 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours, taking the number of total infections in the country to 302,020. High schools, colleges and universities reopened on 15 September. The Punjab School Education Department (PSED) has specified a schedule and academic timetable for all government and private schools. District Education Authorities (DEAs) will work in collaboration with Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Education Development (QAED) to devise a framework of action that is grade-specific. However, private schools are allowed to manage their own calendar. The syllabi have been reduced by 40% for the 2020-21 academic session.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh has registered 1724 new cases and 43 new deaths according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), bringing its total cases to 341,056. The present recovery rate is 72% and the death rate is at 1.41%. The Government has decided to have a uniform national qualifications framework in place to ensure global standards in education, which will apply to all levels from primary to higher education. UGC of Bangladesh has signed Annual Performance Agreements (APA) with 15 universities in the first phase and will ink similar agreements with 31 other public universities. APA has been introduced to enhance transparency and accountability in government activities. Bangladesh eased restrictions on domestic flights from Sunday, with the country’s civil aviation authority (CAAB) having issued updated guidelines.

Nepal: Nepal’s coronavirus tally crossed the 55,000 mark, with 1,170 new cases recorded on Monday. Amid this pandemic, UNESCO celebrated International Literacy Day in Nepal. On 4 September, the Government of Nepal and the World Bank signed a financing agreement for an additional grant of US$10.85 million to the School Sector Development Program (SSDP) for access to basic education and continued learning for children. The Government also decided to allow the resumption of domestic flights and long-distance public ground transport services from 21 September.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s COVID cases have risen to 3231 according to the Health Ministry. The Asian Institute of Business and Science (AIBS) and the Rosedale Academy, Ontario has signed a unique pre-university pathway program. The European Union is funding 15 agencies in Sri Lanka to build on higher education capacity and is collaborating with the University of Peradeniya for Capacity Building for Higher Education projects for 2020. The World Bank has reallocated $56 million from ongoing projects in Sri Lanka to protect the most vulnerable in the agriculture sector, improve COVID measures, facilitate tele-education for school children, and provide digital solutions to improve the delivery of public services. The Government has taken a decision to increase the admissions to government university medical facilities by 350.

Vietnam: Vietnam’s coronavirus infections have surpassed the 1,000 mark, but no new cases have been reported for two weeks. Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training has partnered with RMIT Australia to bring sector leaders and policymakers to help guide the future of online education in the region. Vietnam will resume international commercial flights that connect the country to several Asian destinations. Flights connecting Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Laos, and Cambodia will run weekly. These flights will initially operate for foreign diplomats, officials, experts, business managers, and to bring home Vietnamese from overseas.

Philippines: The country’s Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed 3,544 additional counts, making its total cases 269,407. The Philippines’s Department of Education rejected the calls for ‘Academic Freeze’, since the proposal hadn’t considered the effects of a prolonged interruption in the learning process of children. The Department of Education is looking to hire 65,000 individuals for teaching and non-teaching posts in 2021. It also confirmed that over 800 of the 14,435 private schools will not be operating this coming school year. The University of Philippines started online classes from 10 September in 8 constituent universities and 21 campuses across the country.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: TOP STUDY DESTINATIONS

USA

  • Colleges and Universities continue to battle major COVID-19 spikes on and off-campus – some contending with the increased risk of new infections as thousands of students and fans piled into stadiums over the past weekend for the official start of the college football season.
  • The US Government confirmed that it revoked the visa of more than 1000 Chinese nationals, including international students and researchers.

UK

  • New routes for international students, including the latest point-based immigration system to apply for visas, have been recently announced by the UK government. The latest process of application will be open from October, which was previously expected to be introduced from January 2021.
  • Universities in areas facing COVID lockdowns will face four “tiers of restrictions” on face-to-face teaching, according to updated government guidance.
  • UUKi and the Boarding Schools’ Association plan to organize flights for Chinese students looking to return to their UK schools.

Australia

  • AAERI suggested that Australian universities must reduce international student fees and improve post-study work options if they wish to be the study destination of choice in a post-COVID-19 world.

France

  • NEOMA Business School in France initially set up for international students who were unable to attend physical campuses, is now the first school in Europe to open a 100% digital camp

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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