S. Vishnu Sharma
US Education is a dream that many Indians would like to see it coming true. However, taking into account the current developments in United States of America (US), the graduates there are spending sleepless nights.
What is making these graduates spend nights without proper sleep? The changes made with regards to foreign student visa rules.
US Education 2020
These changes have upset the plans of more than a million foreign students in US, many of these who have dreamt about US Education would bring improvement are now worrying for their future.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is said to have announced that students whose studies are being conducted online entirely due to corona virus pandemic will be removed of their visas.
If this happens students who have dreamt big of US Education and subsequently making their lives brighter will have to now move out of USA.
This has proved no less than a nightmare. Those who are from those part of the globe where internet connectivity is not upto the mark are more worried.
If they go back to their own countries, some of them fear that they may not be able to continue online learning as the internet connectivity in their country is poor.
Indian part of Kashmir is one of the example. US Education aspirants who have moved to United States for studies now are said to be worried.
Many of them say should they be going back, continuing studies may not be possible as internet access in the Indian side of Kashmir is not available in all areas.
This has now made many worry over choosing US Education. T.G. Shantaraman, an electronics engineer in a private firm is one such who is worried a lot.
US Education lured us as it does many others. ‘We took a huge loan and sent our son to US. If he comes back what will happen to his studies and what will happen to his future?’
Shantaraman is not alone when it comes to having such worries. That is not all, if the order to leave US is implemented, he will have to come back and stay here till it is revoked.
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Will it be easy to go back? Asks Shantaraman. The rule says that students who are learning completely online have to leave the country or move to an institute where there is physical learning.
This means even if some one were to chose to leave the country during the present pandemic, they may find it difficult to keep up their lawful status.
About 80 percent of foreign students who opt for US Education are from Asia, says a survey by ICE. Students coming from India and China are half of them.
Which means that this order is not only proving worrisome for Indian but also for Chinese. US Education lures not only Indians but also Chinese, says R. Vasanthakumar, a veteran educationist.
Most of the US educational institutions use Google, Facebook to stay in touch with their students. These and many other applications are blocked in China.
So to go back means problematic for Chinese students also. There are ways to access Google and other websites.
Using Virtual Private Network can give access to websites like Google, however they can slowdown the net speed.
With this being the case, things may not remain smooth if students from China have to go back. US Education has another side also now.
Students who are on the verge of completion of their education. Some of these students are said to have received job offers.
Now they fear that if they go back, things may turn upside down and it may even result in losing their job offers.
Many also see political angles to this whole affair. The presidential elections in US are to happen in November this year which not far away.
Harsh decisions are being taken keeping in mind the elections with a motive of ensuring victory. This move has already earned lot of criticism.
This decision with regards to US Education is not at all praisworthy, says T. Vishwanathan, a veteran education consultant.
Indian students pay much higher tuition fees than the American students. Many of the colleges in America keep going mainly due to the contribution that comes from foreign students.
Whenever an Indian student opts for US Education, a lot of money goes to US in form of accomodation charges, local travel, food and all these adds to the economy, says Vishwanathan.
Saying no to foreign students is not worth considering as far as US Education is concerned. What comes as a delight amidst the whole affair is that couple of educational institutions in US have taken this matter quite seriously.
Well-known educational institutions in US have filed a law suit in the court seeking to revoke the order given by Trump administration.
Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have filed the law suit. These two are well-known institutes as far as US Education is concerned.
Matter of interest is that couple of other educational institutions like Princeton University, Stanford University have also given support to lawsuit filed by Harvard and MIT.
Various sources say, foreign students bring about USD 40 billion to American economy.
The dream of pursuing US Education proves really helpful to US economy, saying no to this rich contribution to itself is not even worth considering.
Another interesting development in the current scenario of US Education is that certain universities have planned to go for a mixed model.
This will involve online classes as well as physical teaching. UC Berkely is said to implement the mixed model. Hope to see more better days as far as US Education is concerned.