Hyderabad: Study abroad plans go haywire

Hyderabad: Uncertainty over when the Covid pandemic would come to an end, many students who had plans to go abroad for higher studies have shifted their focus to local colleges.

Madhuri Reddy, a national-level hockey player who was supposed to go for her advanced hockey training in Canada, said, "The pandemic has altered the plans of studying and training abroad. Now the people are giving a lot of thought on either wait for the cure for Coronavirus and situation get back to normal or to search for local universities that offer similar courses. Unfortunately, the course which I was supposed to do is only available in Canada."

Another city-based student, Juveriya Mulahat Iqra, who is currently doing her Diploma in Bioinformatics from Osmania University and was planning to go to United States of America (USA) for her masters in Genetic Counselling, said, "I hope that the pandemic gets over soon so that I can apply for the course in USA. However, if it takes quite a long time, I will have to join a local university."

Besides the students facing such situations, those who have recently gone to the foreign countries have been stranded due to lockdown. Akshitha Thakur, who is currently pursuing Masters in CPA accredited course at La Trobe University Bundoora campus in Melbourne, said, "I had taken a loan of Rs 30 lakh for my PG education and received 30 per cent scholarship for every semester." "My visa was granted on March 4 and I arrived to Melbourne on March 11, just 2 days before the global pandemic was announced.

Now, we are struggling here with managing our day to day expenses. There are many students who are suffering due to this crisis. There are no part time jobs available as everything is shut, Many parents in India are sending monies for their children's expenses."

Sanjeev Rai, proprietor, Overseas Consultants, said for studying abroad, many students opt for countries like United States and United Kingdom. Around 120 students have gone before the pandemic.

He said, "Every year around 90,000 students apply for foreign courses from Telangana through our consultancy. As of now, the entrance exams for foreign universities have been suspended. As such there is no problem for those who are in abroad after taking admissions as online classes are going on. The problem is for those who were about to apply. We are still receiving applications for the exam that is to be conducted in September. However, the number of applicants has fallen down by 50%."