By Arun Bagaria,
Not as well extended ago, foreign education dreams have been topic to merit and availability of funds. However, with the pandemic, items have changed even on this front. Today’s students are worried about travel restrictions, quarantine expenses, pressure and the ever altering regulations concerning entry of Indian students to different nations which are preferred amongst them.
By the time the second wave abated in India, a lot of nations place in spot the mandatory requirement of a student needing each doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter. This triggered a severe concern for these who are all set to start out classes shortly for the fall semester, and made them scurry for the second jab. Thankfully, the current efforts by different state governments to prioritize vaccination for the students to allow them to attend their classes on time has come as a excellent enhance for the students.
Travel restrictions by different nations
Indian students are facing a lot of travel restrictions by different nations. For instance, flights from India are not but permitted to enter Canada. This is causing a lot of of them to very first travel to one more nation and then take a flight from that nation to destinations in Canada.
Similarly, US President Joe Biden had banned the entry of non-immigrant travellers in the nation alongside issuing an advisory warning its citizens against traveling to India. However, there are exceptions and particular concessions getting made. For instance, students from India and some other nations can enter the US if they apply for a National Interest Exception specifically for these whose academic activities which includes optional sensible education OPT began on August 1 or later. The students with valid F-1 and M-1 visas are also permitted to enter the nation 30 days just before the start out of their applications.
Majority of the Indian students go to foreign nations for their Masters degrees and cancellation of exams and so on., has turn into a big challenge for them. They have to incur heavy expenses when they spend for the costs and living costs at the time of the start out of their courses, but finish up studying on line due to the travel bans. Further, the cancellation of exams in India in the wake of the pandemic has additional developed a big hurdle of qualifying for the undergraduate research abroad. When students are not graded, they can not meet the criteria for applications. Considering the situation exactly where absolutely everyone is promoted without the need of exams and the students can not go to study abroad, do we have the infrastructure prepared to accommodate tens of millions of new college graduates?
There is also a substantial backlog of Visa applications which once again would make the waiting period genuinely extended and just about not possible for students to start out their fall semester on time even if the travel restrictions are lifted by US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and so on.
There are an estimated one million Indian students seeking forward to studying overseas this year. The Ministry of External Affairs has taken some measures to assist the students overcome the challenge of travel bans.
Role of Travel Agents
In the present chaotic situation, students are acquiring an unexpected supply of help in the type of travel agents. The pandemic outbreak has necessitated the surge in demand for the travel agent services and they are not just supplying ticketing, and lodging for their clients but also invaluable help in getting visa and updated travel help. While there are several foreign education corporations operating in India, the prospects of travel agents playing an integral part in the ecosystem via their robust and frequently updated expertise of regulations and procedures holds them in great stead.
In conclusion
The value of travel agents and the trust and comfort aspect they give when arranging any type of travel has only been reiterated in the course of this pandemic. Going ahead, it is not going to be an uncommon sight to see the Indian travel agents make stronger on line service delivery even for the students facing challenges in going abroad for their larger research!
(The author is Co-Founder of TravClan. Views expressed are individual and do not reflect the official position or policy of the TheSpuzz Online.)