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SINGAPORE: Phoebe Chee has been training as an opera singer since she was 15 years old.
Last year, the soprano began an undergraduate course at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. However, midway through, his studies were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. You are now back in Singapore and preparing for the new academic year – online.
“Our school allows us to attend classes, because it is a hybrid model anyway. But for me I’m just a little scared. I feel like it’s a bit safer in Singapore, ”said Ms Chee, now 22 years old.
Ms. Chee is not the only one who feels this way. According to a survey by the global education network QS, many international students are choosing to postpone their studies until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are doing so not only for security reasons, but also because of border restrictions imposed by countries around the world.
Phoebe Chee has been training as an opera singer since she was 15 years old. Last year, the soprano began an undergraduate course at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. However, midway through, his studies were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Facebook: Phoebe Chee)
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Globally, there are more than 5.3 million students pursuing higher education abroad. They generally choose schools in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Canada, and Australia.
In the US alone there are more than a million international students, mainly from China, India and South Korea. According to figures from the US Department of Commerce, international students contributed $ 44.7 billion to the US economy in 2018.
With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on global economic activity, experts said immigration policies, the perception of security amid the pandemic, and flexibility will be key for universities to survive the recession.
READ: COVID-19: Most foreign students return to Singapore for university, some to continue online classes abroad
Until now, online tours and webinars have become essential in how universities interact with potential candidates.
“It is efficient and effective. I think there will also be more digital communication, digital content, and virtual university tours so that students don’t have to fly in advance to see a campus, but can actually see it remotely, ”said Nunzio Quacquarelli, CEO of QS.
Tsinghua University in China was one of the first to switch to online teaching in February. By the end of March, nearly 2,700 teachers had taught 4,000 online courses to 25,000 students in different time zones.
Researchers at Tsinghua University are now looking at how the experience of teachers and students will define higher education in the future.
“Virtual universities … universities in the cloud, all kinds of ideas are emerging,” said Professor Hamish Coates, from the Institute of Education at Tsinghua University.
But education experts warn that while online learning can be effective in disseminating information, an education abroad is more than just studies.
“Online learning is very functional. You can help students access materials, but some students behave very differently online than in the classroom. And it doesn’t necessarily lead to those really important forms of transformation and development that we look forward to, particularly at the higher end of our career fields, and that’s where higher education is most special, ”said Professor Coates.
The university education redesign could combine online learning, industry immersion and research focus over the course of a four-year degree, experts said. Such a hybrid setup could stimulate experimentation with how fees are paid and how courses are designed.
“There are models where students do not pay upfront for their education, but pay through their future income, QS’s Quacquarelli said.
“Other models are emerging in which employers pay when they hire the student. And there is also the separation of a degree. Therefore, it may be that you pay part of your degree in one institution and the rest in another institution,” he added.
READ: FOCUSED: Graduating in a COVID-19 Job Market: Short-Term Challenges and Long-Term Issues?
Certified courses may also experience a boom, leading to reconsideration whether college degrees should remain a prerequisite for recruitment.
So, as online learning becomes the norm, is it worth paying for education abroad?
“The reality is that providing a really engaging, high-quality online education isn’t necessarily much cheaper than the cost of delivering a program on campus,” said Mr. Quacquarelli.
“I think there will be the possibility of offering some lower cost incentives to study online – it might only be 10 or 20 percent. So I think student expectations need to be set to combine online and online learning. the campus a little cheaper, but not dramatically cheaper, “he added.
Professor Coates from Tsinghua University added: “We have never been able to properly price a higher education in a commercial sense. And while there are many people in the world who pay a price for their education, that, of course, is only a small part of the value they get.
“The problem is not so much the price of higher education because, from any point of view, even when it is completely overvalued, it returns enormous value to the person who participates in it.”
For the soprano Ms. Chee, her tuition and other fees total approximately $ 47,000. He has a partial scholarship and also needs to cover his own living expenses.
“For me, traveling abroad is more like a privilege. A bonus, in addition to what I have done and experienced in Singapore. I’ve already spent a year on that, so quitting isn’t really an option. “
Being in Singapore means Chee is saving on rent. But despite that, he still says, being able to return to the physical school campus in California will be music to his ears.
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