After the rapid spread of coronavirus, many countries have closed their borders to contain the virus's spread. But many students are still aspiring to pursue their education abroad. Students are also highly interested in getting a degree from abroad universities despite the current travel ban.
Study in the UK, Study in Canada, Australia, and Europe are some famous destinations for studying abroad. Sadly these countries have seen the worst impact of coronavirus. This has created massive uncertainty around the prospect of studying abroad.
But as now countries are slowly lifting lockdowns, ultimately there is a hope of everything coming back to normal. Though it may take significant amount of time.
Naturally, students and parents are concerned about the future and safety of learning abroad. And there are some reasons for hope that we want to talk about.
Post Study Work
After the pandemic, governments worldwide are trying to be more open-minded with their post-study work policies. The biggest concern of international students was regarding getting jobs after getting their degree. And governments, especially the UK government, is trying to solve this problem by increasing the post-study work visa by four years. This policy will help international students gain safety and security after the coronavirus pandemic.
Practical Advice and Assistance
Governments are trying to help international students feel safe and secure in their countries. For example, the UK Council for International Studies Affairs help international students with visas and student finance. Indian National Student Association is also offering help to the Indian students.
What Students Can DO?
Obviously, things are not like that in every part of the world. In many countries, international students face discrimination, and many students are unsure of getting a job after getting a degree.
Although the situation isn’t great now, we would want to give you some tips not to be discouraged by this pandemic.
1. Know What to Expect – If you aspire to study abroad, you should continue with your application process. Usually, in most foreign universities, sessions start in September- October. However, if the situation worsens, universities may fully adopt online learning. So students should stick to the schedules.
2. Prepare yourself- The pandemic situation may not be solved soon, and you may want to think about postponing your international study till 2021. In the meantime, you should start preparing.
• Figure out what subject to study.
• Figure out in which country and university you want to study.
• Do some online skill training or online internship. Universities love good CVs.
• Prepare for language tests. IELTS, PTE, TOEFL are some of the most popular English language tests.
• You can also prepare for GRE or GAMT tests, which are online tests and taken from the home.
The coronavirus pandemic does not seem to end soon. And it may not be safe for students to go to other countries to study. However, that should not de-motivate students to aspire to study abroad. Students should use this lockdown to up-skill themselves and prepare to apply to foreign universities next year.