Experts ask students to keep dreams alive
LUCKNOW: Exuding optimism, international higher education experts have asked students not to give up on their career dreams, while also agreeing that there were some challenges.
Experts aired these views in a webinar on ‘Studies Abroad in Covid Times’ organised by the Institute for Career Studies (ICS) on Friday.
The panel comprised country experts from Finland, Ireland, England, Canada and the United States of America. The discussion, which addressed the concerns of students and parents, was steered by ICS founder-director Amrita Dass.
Dass said that the session was especially organised to allay the fears of students and parents. “It is important to make informed decisions, especially when planning to study abroad, as the cost is usually high,” she said.
Finnish entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka, known for developing the hugely popular online game ‘Angry Birds’, said that his country was dealing with the issue of an ageing population and looking at getting qualified professionals to fill up job vacancies.
“Education in Finland is very affordable. Also, a good education is about fantastic jobs too. Here, in the tech industry, we have about 50,000 jobs that need to be filled over the next few years. While Coronavirus has impacted the world economy, students can stay on in Finland for work after completing their studies,” said Vesterbacka, who is associated with 11 universities.
University of Essex director (student recruitment & partnership, South Asia) Sandeep Sharma observed that while it was natural for students to be anxious, it was also important to be informed about what governments were doing to mitigate the Coronavirus impact for facilitating higher education.
Answering student queries about internships and poststudy jobs, University of Waterloo associate director (marketing and undergraduate recruitment) Scott O’Neill spoke about the co-op education programme popular in Canada, which is a supervised and paid job internship for students. It is unique to Canada and prepares students to enter jobs equipped with the right skills, as students get a chance to work in an industry related to their field of study. “Our co-op programme leads to cash flow. Students can also work part time and further bring down expenses,” he said.
Michigan State University (USA) senior International admissions counsellor Amber Longtin addressed the concerns of students and parents. “Remember, the US is huge. It is not centralised and not all places follow the same protocol. Hence, you will find a lot of different reactions to the pandemic. Over a million international students come to the US every year. Supporting them is very important to the universities,” she said.