New Delhi: UGC and AICTE have issued warnings to students about enrolling in China. According to the public notice, China maintains travel restrictions in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.
UGC recommended students on Friday to exercise "due diligence" before opting to continue higher education in China, noting that the government has not eased restrictions on travel and that many Indian students have not attended in-person lectures since the outbreak began.
Furthermore, the higher education authority notified students in a veiled warning that it does not recognise "degree courses done only in online mode without prior approval."
The UGC advisory came on the same day that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the subject of Indian students returning to China with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. According to Jaishankar, India hopes that Beijing would take a "non-discriminatory approach" to it.
Over 20,000 Indian students were enrolled in medical degrees, according to statistics supplied by the Indian Embassy in China during the Covid epidemic. The majority of them returned to the nation after China shuttered all colleges in the aftermath of the epidemic, but have been unable to return due to tight travel restrictions.
They are concerned that if online lessons continue owing to a lack of practical experience, their medical degrees may be rendered null and void.
On February 8, the National Medical Council (NMC) of India confirmed that students may not take the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), a licence examination to practise in India if the medical courses were delivered online.
Jaishankar shortly after his meeting with Yi said to the reporters, “Minister Wang Yi assured me that he would speak to the relevant authorities on his return on this matter. He also recognised the particular concerns that medical students have in this difficult situation”.
The UGC advisory was issued on Friday in response to multiple Chinese institutions accepting applications for various degree programmes for the upcoming academic years.
The notification reads, “In this context, any prospective student needs to be aware that the Government of People’s Republic of China has imposed strict travel restrictions in the wake of COVID-19 and suspended all visas since November 2020. As a result, a large number of Indian students have not been able to return to China to continue their studies due to these restrictions. Thus far, there has been no relaxation in the restrictions”.
The notification further explained that the Chinese authorities had previously stated that the courses will be delivered online and that under current norms, the UGC and AICTE would not recognise such degree courses taken online without prior approval.
“Students are advised to exercise due diligence in choosing where to pursue higher education to avoid further problems in employment or higher studies,” the notification stated.
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