Indian students, who have been studying in Chinese universities and are not able to enter China for physical classes, say that the new lockdown in various cities in the country due to the rise in Covid-19 cases would create more hurdles for them.
With nearly 30 million people reportedly under lockdown across 13 cities, including Shenzhen and Changchun, in China, Indian students fear that the new measures will give more reasons to the Chinese government in denying visas to them.
"The new lockdown will create more hurdles as in my opinion there will be a delay in the process of visas being issued for us to go to China," said Satvik Somya, from Harbin Medical University, who added that even though a series of tweets have been posted by different spokespersons from the Chinese government, no specific date or plan has been announced to facilitate their travel.
China's announcement on Monday regarding its willingness to allow a small number of foreign students "with actual needs", while also not elaborating on the same, hasn't created any optimism among Indian students who are currently attending online classes on platforms prescribed by the faculty of their university. "China was considering a Zero Covid policy earlier to enable the return of foreign students in the country but this recent announcement and rise in Covid cases has dampened our hopes even more," said Akshra Singh, a student in Harbin Medical University. She told the Free Press Journal that students are attending classes through an app called DingTalk, a communication platform by Jack Ma's Alibaba Group.
The students stated that their lectures commence from 5:30 AM (IST) on some days till 9:30 AM, while on other days the timings are between 10:00 AM to 2 PM.
Not all students have been able to adapt to the digital mode of learning, as students from Ningbo University where the majority of the students opted for suspension of their classes until in-person learning is allowed are left without any options. "The rise in cases is bad news for us as that would mean that there will be more delay in our classes being conducted. We hoped that by September 2022, our return to China will be imminent but it seems unlikely now," said Bhumika Sharma, a student in Ningbo University who added that because the majority of the students from her batch, comprising mostly of students from South Indian states, were not willing to continue with their semesters in the online mode, the university decided to go ahead with the majority decision and suspended classes until their return. "Medical councils in states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala have specific rules on students attending more than three semesters online which is why many of them opposed the decision," added Bhumika who completed her third year of MBBS and is preparing herself for future NEET-PG and National Exit Test (NEXT) exams.
Sanya Yadav, another student from Ningbo University, said that the suspension of classes was meant to last for six months as the earlier assumption was that students would be able to go back to China within the stipulated period. "We have been running from pillar to post. From participating in online campaigns to writing letters to the Embassies but to no avail. This recent rise in Covid cases across major cities in China, including Shanghai which is a few hours away from Ningbo, creates more worries for us," said Sanya who added that belongings of students in rooms of their hostels in China have been removed from their accommodation.
Sanya also echoed a point, made by several students on Twitter, which is the lack of coverage by mainstream media of their concerns as compared to Indian students in universities of Ukraine. "Many students who are currently studying in Ukrainian universities are able to find help as not only Indian institutions but also European institutions are willing to take them in. We don't have that type of surety with us if things get worse for us and that is why we want the government to continue talks with China and resolve our issues," Sanya expressed.
