Impact on International Students During the Covid-19 - Essay Sample

Introduction

International learners are students that migrate to another country to seek further education. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, their knowledge has faced several challenges. The first impact is that the lockdown of various nations resulted in a mental breakdown that affected the student’s psychological security. Due to this, the learners may lose the interest to continue with their studies in abroad. For instance, the African learners who were 5000 and were from Wuhan were limited from leaving the city, yet they are not receiving any aid (Peters et al., 2020). It is essential because students get lots of support from family. Staying away from them makes them feel isolated and develop mental illness disorders. The second one is that as a result of the pandemic, the learners face financial issues that will increase the expenses of learning abroad.

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The government has limited job opportunities for these students furthermore. The other students working at the higher learning institution no longer have employment since the closure of the colleges and universities hence making them experience the financial crisis. The third one is that the visa issuing is on suspension; hence no learner can acquire one for the next academic year. Also, postponing the programs, moving to online learning and examinations, and delay at the beginning of classes is a huge impact. Moreover, some international learners lost housing after the closure of the higher learning institutions forcing them to sleep on the streets and go days without consuming anything.

Most Significant Impact of the Pandemic on higher education

There are various impacts of the COVID-19 on higher education; however, the main focus is the most significant one. The most significant effect that higher education is facing is the financial crisis. It is because a considerable percentage of learners from other nations result in a high domestic market. For example, the United States of America, the international learners from China, is 40% of the foreign learners’ population while the Indian students are 20%. According to a survey, only 830 Chinese learners went back to the United States of America to continue their education (Crawford et al., 2020). Due to this, the economic status of higher education is at risk. However, the various higher learning institutions have ways that are helping them in dealing with the impact. There is online learning, which allows the institutions to retain students and allow enrollment of other learners. Also, the development of robust systems is another way. It is essential because only huge and famous universities have a full plan, but the small ones do not; that is why development is paramount. The higher learning education sector has withstood financial issues in the past, and the same will happen. The main advantage is that the colleges and universities are in a better position than they were in the past; hence learners will continue learning online.

Importance of the Study

The study is beneficial to the community and the world at large because of various reasons. The study reveals the challenges that international students face. Through this, they might receive help from the community and other well-known organizations. However, it is not all the international students that have been affected (Marinoni et al., 2020). Also, the study is critical because it shows how colleges and universities are willing to continue with learning despite the current pandemic. Through this study, not only the community but the entire globe knows the challenges that higher education is facing and might consider offering help. Through the support, the students will finish their academics and help in moving the economy forward.

Purpose of the Study

There are two purposes for the study. The first one is to identify the impacts that the international learners have had due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The second one is to figure out the most significant challenge to higher education, which is finances and ways on how the higher learning institutions are handling the challenge.

Results

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the economic sector but the education one as well. According to statistics, the higher learning institution closed by the 3rd of April due to the pandemic. As a result of this, 1.5 billion students were affected, and their learning paralyzed. For example, the African nations closed all institutions, which is 77% higher than any other area (Crawford et al., 2020). It is shocking because, by that time, there were significantly fewer cases of coronavirus in the African nations.

The main reason for the closure of the higher learning institutions is to prevent the spread of the disease. The results show how COVID-19 has impacted the higher learning institutions despite individual nations having less COVID-19 cases than countries like the United States of America and China (Peters et al., 2020). Despite the higher learning institutions opting for online learning and examinations, there have been numerous challenges like the accessibility of the technical infrastructure and pedagogies and competences of distance learning. Aside from the institutions facing a financial crisis, they also are worried about the scientific projects that are incomplete. However, through online learning, the higher learning institutions are now active, and the financial crisis is no longer a huge problem.

References

Crawford, J., Butler-Henderson, K., Rudolph, J., Malkawi, B., Glowatz, M., Burton, R., ... & Lam, S. (2020). COVID-19: 20 countries' higher education intra-period digital pedagogy responses. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 3(1), 1-20. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/34123/

Marinoni, G., van’t Land, H., & Jensen, T. (2020). The impact of Covid-19 on higher education around the world. IAU Global Survey Report. https://www.iau-aiu.net/IMG/pdf/iau_covid19_and_he_survey_report_final_may_2020.pdf

Peters, M. A., Wang, H., Ogunniran, M. O., Huang, Y., Green, B., Chunga, J. O., ... & Khomera, S. W. (2020). China’s internationalized higher education during Covid-19: collective student autoethnography. Postdigital Science and Education, 1. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42438-020-00128-1.pdf