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SINGAPORE: Most of the international students from Singapore’s autonomous universities are back here for classes in the new semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with some choosing to continue classes online from abroad.
For Mihika Agarwal, a freshman at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), coming to Singapore to start her freshman year meant taking a flight from her home in Kolkata to Hyderabad before flying to Singapore. 9/11 arrived and she is currently serving her 14-day stay-at-home notice period.
“Because I am a freshman entering college right away, college is more about the full college experience rather than just academics,” the 19-year-old said, explaining why she decided not to take the Kolkata online semester.
“I have other friends of mine, who may be going to the United States or the United Kingdom, and they don’t really have the opportunity to go there at the moment because their classes are totally online. But since they gave me the opportunity … I thought it was a good decision to go to campus. ”
For the new semester, universities have opted for a mix of online and offline classes depending on the field of study, and large-scale conferences are still held online.
READ: Comment: How prepared are Singapore universities to begin the new period as COVID-19 progresses?
In response to inquiries from the CNA, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) said that most of their international students have returned. to Singapore.
“We will continue to support the remaining international students by submitting their applications to the relevant agencies to obtain the necessary approvals,” a NUS spokesperson said.
Most of the SUTD students arrived in Singapore to deliver their 14-day stay-at-home notice before the semester began on Sept. 14, the university spokesman said.
“Those who cannot arrive on time, due to difficulties in securing flights outside their home country, will be able to join classes remotely in the meantime,” the spokesperson added.
Singapore Management University (SMU) said that “several” international students have returned to Singapore for the new academic year.
He is also helping the remaining students to apply for the relevant approvals so that they can return to Singapore.
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All four universities said they stay in touch with students who are abroad and are supporting them with online classes.
“We recognize that online learning cannot completely replace the educational experience on campus, and we hope that our international students who are still waiting to enter Singapore will be able to join us on campus when it is safe and practical for them to do so.” the NUS spokesman said.
For SMU international students, those who do not want to take up learning options online can choose to take a leave of absence for the quarter, the university said.
PROS AND CONS OF ONLINE LEARNING
For NUS sophomore Shreya Sanganeria, she decided to continue her studies with NUS from India, after discovering that her faculty classes would be fully online this semester.
“That basically gave me the confidence to continue my semester from India,” the economics student told CNA.
He returned home in May on an evacuation flight and, in June, a decision was needed on whether he wanted to return to Singapore for the next semester and keep his room on campus.
At that time, there were no international flights from India to Singapore.
“Technically, I didn’t have a lot of options not to fly back. And other than that, I was a bit skeptical because I really hadn’t had a proper virtual semester, ”the 19-year-old said.
Despite deciding not to return to Singapore for the semester, Ms Sanganeria said she was unsure if she could handle a full semester by taking classes and extracurricular commitments online from abroad.
Currently, all lectures are recorded to allow students to view them in their own time, he said. Students can also choose between tutoring spaces to ensure that those logging in from abroad can account for the time difference.
“I don’t feel like I’m missing the knowledge aspect because it’s more or less the same. But for people, the interaction aspect, I feel like I can’t interact with people that much because it’s different when you’re face to face and then you meet more people, ”he told CNA.
“When it’s virtual, it’s much more restricted because people generally don’t open up virtually and everyone just does their thing. And then we just finish the class, so there isn’t a lot of interaction with the students in my module that I don’t know yet.
“So I feel that a virtual semester has the disadvantage that the interaction is less compared to before.”
It is an opinion shared by Ms. Agarwal.
“The ease with which you can ask the teacher questions between classes or lectures, I don’t think the freedom is already there on a Zoom call with maybe 150 students,” he said.
Although he decided to travel to Singapore, the decision was not easy.
You just received your offer letter from NTU on August 14, during the first week of the semester.
At that time, he had already given up on studying in Singapore because he thought universities here were accepting fewer international students due to the pandemic and he was about to start his studies in India.
READ: Comment: Even when universities close conference rooms and go online, studying abroad is still the dream
“When I got that offer, I was actually on two minds, even though going to Singapore was my first preference because of the opportunities and all,” he told CNA, adding that it was difficult to “change that mindset.”especially after finally deciding to attend college at home.
“But my decision was based primarily on the fact that I didn’t really consider the COVID-19 situation, because I think it would be a very short-term thought process,” added Ms Agarwal.
“I had to look at the bigger picture, maybe five years later. And I am sure that five years later, there will be some improvement or maybe a maximum improvement in the COVID-19 situation. “
She added that she is “excited” to start her studies at NTU, she said: “Sure, some classes will be online and some will be offline, at least I won’t miss any part of them, either online or offline, I’ll take them both So I think it’s a huge plus to be on campus. “
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