Safe to Study Abroad Now? Wait, Hybrid or Fly?

MUMBAI:
Singhania Quest+ Counsellors cautioned prospective Indian students keen on pursuing a foreign degree programme through an off campus mode duringthe conducted webinars by Singhania Quest+.

The justification of a huge investment for an entire year cannot replace physical on campus learning experience in an international setting. The pressure for admissions was palpable at the webinar that witnessed over 2500 prospective students from across 10 states across India. Students should NOT opt for online studies in foreign universities offering admissions for a period of 1 year or more amidst this challenging scenario triggered by the pandemic was an unequivocal recommendation by renowned educational counsellors.

Asslam Shaikh, Founder & CEO of Aliff Overseas Pvt Ltd, advised students to not opt for complete online education at International universities as physical learning should be the most preferred mode of education than online education. Commenting on the current scenario he said, “Online education in international universities does add value as far as international exposure is concerned however in the current scenario wherein some universities are asking students to study online for one year, the cost is not justified.

Students are advised to look for courses that may start online for the first three months in case where foreign borders are likely to be opened and then continue with an on campus model to avoid wasting time in India. Countries like Switzerland have no restrictions in the campus.”

While USA, Canada & UK are the hot choices of students in the current scenario, other countries coming in forefront are France, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Also increasingly, countries such as Hungary and Poland are gaining popularity with Indian students as the cost of education is similar to that of Indian Education given the currency valuation.

Speaking on the success of webinars, Brijesh Karia, COO, Singhania Education Services said, “This is the first of its kind initiative organized by any K-12 Edtech platforms in India and we at Singhania Quest+ are happy to introduce this to the students across the globe at no cost and we will continue to do so. We observed that students and their parents are benefitting immensely from the career counselling fairs and we helped them identify the right course, college and country based on their profile, preference and budget. Those students who have missed it, we have organized one big fair in August at no extra cost.”

Advising students and parents about the new stream of courses that are now capturing attention such as healthcare courses on immunology etc., Himanshu Dev, Founder & CEO, HD-EduAssociates, former U.S. lecturer, and advisor to Singhania Quest+ said, “I was overwhelmed seeing the participation in career counselling fair organized by Singhania Quest+. Parents and students both were equally keen on understanding on how International universities are currently functioning and what courses are gaining popularity post COVID-19 and the kind of placement opportunities and now being presented in such niche streams.”

Keeping the current scenario in mind, the key findings of the seminar were:
 The mobility of the students have been restricted across the countries impacting the admissions
 Countries like Australia and New Zealand are closed for admission till mid 2022
 Countries like Canada, USA, UK, Switzerland and Ireland with the change in administration and stronger infrastructure are opening up
 Some countries chose hybrid model of education in order to restrict the number of students on campus due to limited space
 Countries like UK, Switzerland, Germany and Ireland likely to open in September-October for offline education or largely offline and less online
 Canada has been a good host to overseas student as they extended 1200 Canadian dollars for those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. The same one was done in Ireland supporting students away from their homes who lost their part time jobs.
 Apart from engineering and business, liberal arts, sciences, mathematics, computer science, hospitality, design and animation are a few popular courses abroad

Singhania Quest+, a digital Edtech platform conducted 3 career counselling webinars for students to explore various career options that are available internationally and witnessed a participation of over 2500 students. These sessions were exclusively for students who are grappling with multiple issues such as admissions, safety, vaccination, scholarships etc. The entire event delved deeper into the minds of the students and presented some rich insights on how foreign universities and Indian students are bridging the gap in terms of justifying their biggest investment of a lifetime.