Start Online And Finish On-Campus, Here’s What Aspiring Study Abroad Students Can Do?

Article Featured On: Education Times

 

Around 1.2 million students appeared for the CBSE class XII board in 2020, out of this 2.6 lakh students applied for study abroad courses and an additional 72,000 students applied in the first two months of 2021. Apart from heightened competition from last year’s batch, the 2021 batch potentially faces losing out six months as they are likely to miss out on the September intake for most universities due to the lack of timely results. However, here are some options that can help them stay on track.

The academic calendar in study abroad destinations like America, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom typically begins in September, with the application process peaking in May and June. Last year, all universities delayed their intakes since everyone was battling with the fallout of Covid. This year is different. Most countries have completed their school exams on time and many universities are preparing to welcome students on-campus this fall as usual. This will surely not be the case in India for Indian students who want to study overseas. The travel restrictions from India and limited visa processing can further complicate matters.

EdTech was able to solve pressing problems right from the delivery of online classes, to creating ERP solutions to ease the management of education institutes, to exam preparations. It is now helping students save their year. For the class of 2021 aspiring to study abroad, EdTech platforms offering hybrid programmes of “start online and finish at campus” hold the key to staying on track and succeeding.

Most of the study-enabler platforms in India have strong partnerships with international universities and colleges in popular destinations. Study abroad platforms also have flexible enrollment dates, unlike a regular intake cycle for a university or college, which is twice in an academic year, platforms like The WorldGrad have six intakes, one every other month. Better still, they give students the flexibility of pre-enrolments, where they can get admission based on their preboard or internal school results and start the first-year equivalent online studies as soon as the boards are done, in July or August. By the end of the year, students would have completed first semester worth of studies, finished the visa process and be ready to join their global peers from early 2022 in the second semester.

Study abroad EdTech platforms are running many other interesting programmes which were missing in a regular overseas education. Students can access and enroll for new age courses too, like cybersecurity, sports management (with Esports curriculum), Event Management in the digital age and much more. Through these platforms, students now have access to scholarships, financing, and counselling to help them make informed decisions.

Unlike the offline process, where a child or a parent had to reach out to each vendor separately, study abroad EdTech platforms have tried to aggregate all the elements at one place. This debate where a faction of teachers is insisting on a fair marking process and students demand that class XII results be declared on an internal basis so that future study abroad plans do not get hindered, will go on. Whether the class XII board results are released in time or not, students will not miss the opportunity to pursue their dream universities/courses post high school abroad in the corona-induced digital age.
(The author is co-founder, The WorldGrad and managing director, LINC Education)