Most students headed abroad firm on their plans

Nagpur: According to union HRD ministry, every year around 7.5 lakh Indian students go abroad for education. But due to Covid-19 pandemic, some have deferred their plans, some have cancelled them, while most are waiting to take first flight out.
Vishal Jain, Nagpur centre head for GEEBEE Education, said a majority of the students will fly out as planned. “Countries like UK and Ireland have already started flights and our students are going. Though in April and May, many were rethinking their travel plans but now it’s all back on track. For North America, I believe a majority of students will join in January session rather in September. Travel restrictions are currently a problem there,” said Jain.
Pankaj Agrawal, CEO and co-founder of Krishna Consultants, said many students were sticking to the plan. “Only 10% students have cancelled their admissions. For others, the admission is intact and classes will be starting online. Universities have confirmed that students can join physically in the next few months and their online classes will be considered at par towards award of degree,” said Agrawal.
For some, deferring might be the only choice. Agrawal said, “In some countries the number of seats available is less, hence fees are paid in advance. Canada is one such place where students are paying before the course starts.” He added that from Nagpur, an average of 750 students go abroad for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
Pushpak Chitnis is headed to the UK for his masters degree but lockdown has delayed the process. “By next week, I will have all the needed to documents to apply for a visa. The lockdown led to delay in processing of loan as well as some government related documents. My session there starts in October and I hope to reach on time if borders open,” said Chitnis. He added his host university had taken a lot of precautions to deal with the pandemic. “I am convinced that if we take ample precautions, safety won’t be a problem at all,” he said.
Madhur Kanungo, who is also heading to the UK, said it does not make sense to delay joining his new campus. “There National Health Service (NHS) provides full coverage to us also for a very modest annual premium. So the health infrastructure is good, cases are low and even universities are taking all precautions due to which I will be flying out as soon as my visa is processed,” said Kanungo. He added that upon arrival in UK, he will have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine.