What does 2022 have in store for Indian students choosing to study overseas? Here are 5 areas to watch out for.
Teaching styles
Universities have had to change their teaching rapidly over the last 2 years. Many moved their teaching online due to government restrictions, this happened across the world. Universities are now moving back to face to face teaching, but keeping all of the good parts of online learning. Most UK universities have excellent Virtual Learning Environments(VLE) that have been used long before the pandemic as a place to store materials and additional information for students to use. The COVID pandemic has highlighted how important these spaces are. When choosing your university ask about these facilities and what is available to students.
Staying safe and being supported
Year 2022 will be still be all about the pandemic and how each country continues to deal with the situation. In the UK, universities are trying to limit the number of people on its campuses, so students can have access to all the facilities. Students may not even notice these staff aren’t there – professors and other teaching staff remain along with the support professional service staff – non-student facing staff are now working from home again. Another safety measure is back to wearing face coverings in university buildings helping control the spread of COVID and other seasonal infections.
The UK is rolling out a COVID vaccine booster campaign to ensure as many people are as safe as possible. India students pay for their health care during the visa process and have access to all health care services provided by the UK NHS.
Hot degrees right now
Students are starting to move away from business degrees with a rise in the number of students interested in health-related programmes and the technology sector. Studying ICT for Indian students has always been high, but the last two years has shown this is field has ever been so important. Areas like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence a key for the future. Health related courses are not just the traditional MBBS and nursing degrees but areas related to medical research such as biomedical science. The pandemic has shown the world the importance of bioscience research.
Funding your studies
Many students studying overseas rely on working while they studying, however the pandemic has shown how unstable this is, with students not being able to afford rent or food. Students tend to work in the service sector, in the UK this was the hardest hit by the pandemic with businesses closed and laying off staff. Businesses were able to take government financial support and furlough staff paying part of their wage. However students working cash in hand jobs, are not likely to have this benefit. In 2002 students need remain smart and keepto the rules and restriction placed on working as a student, such as registering and paying taxes.Job security is better when companies are follow employment regulations. Students can also call upon their universities for support, but this isn’t always guaranteed for international students, so worth checking before signing up for your studies.
Be prepared for change
The COVID-19 pandemic influenced students’ decisions in many ways.Many students changed their study destinations at the last minute – Australia is no longer a big focus, with students preferring the USA or UK. The only certainty in 2022 is change. The best way to deal with change is to have lots of options. Consider more than one destination, just in case rules change or something major happens in that country. Look at universities in different locations across those countries. Somewhere like the UK has 4 countries as part of the union and each country has different COVID restrictions. So undertake lots of research about the place you prefer but have a back-up plan.
The other consideration is to defer your studies, while in your late teens and early twenties this can seem a long time, in the grand scheme of things 12 months is not that long, especially when your working lifetime is likely to be 40 year plus! Nevertheless do not just wait around, why not undertake an online course via one of the many available from universities across the world. Or undertake a job locally, this will be great experience when you enter the world of work on graduation.
(Emma Payne is International Recruitment Manager, Global Engagement, University of Hull)
