Many governments, industries, as well as educational institutions, are hardly affected by the global pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. As of March 30, over 166 countries have implemented nationwide closures, impacting over 87% of the world student population (1.52 students) nearly 60.2 million teachers not able to teach in the classroom, according to UNESCO monitoring on Education.
UNESCO and the International Institute for Superior Education–Latin America and the Caribe (IESALC) set up the following recommendations for Higher Education institutions to encourage students to continue learning despite the temporary closure of educational institutes.
1. Publish in the university community the evidence and suggestions provided by the national health authorities and the World Health Organization, to prevent alarmism or the diffusion of fake news.
2. Use website and social networks to rapidly inform the university community about COVID-19, content suggestions on the behaviour to follow in advance, or in case of infection, advancements in research, and quickly counteract racist or discriminatory attitudes.
3. In institutions incorporating medical departments or public health schools, offer open-access courses on COVID-19 to contributing to better-quality health education for the general public and boost a positive approach regarding scientific research; carry initiatives out in collaboration with several institutions to lessen the impact.
4. Act accordingly to national authorities’ guidelines, and pro-actively contribute to inter-university coordination procedures to set up potential measures agreed on the federal level, such as:
- Postpone or cancel trips abroad for international exchange programs, including professors, students, and researchers, at least those that include entries or departures from countries severely affected by the pandemic.
- Cancel or postpone international or national conferences or academic meetings, if COVID-19 had already appeared in yours or the host country.
- Interrupt face-to-face academic actions.
5. Organise an institutional contingency plan looking at the probability of closing its doors in the future, considering:
· Create a crisis commission to manage foreign government and public information systems.
· Take actions so that industrial units can carry on managing information and remote communication procedures.
· The use of the virtual campus or online learning platform enable students to keep learning remotely; when not possible, then install one of the multiple applications of open-educational platforms; keep on mind some students can use mobile devices only.
· It requires having online training and support mechanisms for teachers and students that must be reinforced.
University actions in the face of COVID-19
Global universities have to stop educational activities all of a sudden. Most of them implemented distance learning under the virtual modality to cope with the disruption; some methods were put into practice right away; others require a better implementation to meet the pandemic and its evolution over time.
Some colleges were already operating digital platforms and distance working practices which make it easy the changeover from face-to-face classes to virtual ones, with proposals or modalities according to different departments or faculties.
How will international academic mobility be affected?
There is historical evidence that pandemics expose our weaknesses but make people take shelter in Research and Science, eventually the purpose of universities. We are sure that the University will arise fortified from Education disruption, as it did before.
Most universities have been operating a digital revolution approach; what we need now is to reinforce it to lessen inevitable consequences on Economy, production and consumption. The effects will be painful for most countries which have internationalised their higher Education (the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, and many others;) however, it is nowadays a common-fruitful practice.
Therefore, some destinations in Asia, currently struggling positions, could now grasp this opportunity, making it advantageous the low rates of contagious in their territories. Only the Chinese students represent 20% of the income of Australian universities, and the USA is the fourth largest student exporter. This international competition is due to the amount of money provided to the global academic mobility floods.
When crisis grew up, governments urged university authorities to send their international students ‘back home’; a decision weighing on the recruitment of prospective international students and on their student benefits, now offered to their citizens only to alleviate the current-work crisis.
The USA decreed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, an incentive package to face the pandemic. This financial support of US $ 14 million is targeted to the higher education sector, comprising its international students, now been considered as «insufficient» by the American Council on Education. On the contrary, the United Kingdom is predicting a 47% drop in international students for the next academic year.
There are expert voices that propose offering value-added bonuses; for instance; four-year work visas upon completion of studies, facilities for obtaining the citizenship, etc.) to mitigating this turn down (Times Higher Education, April 2020).
Ten issues straining Higher Education:
· Risk is on a little or no enrolment.
· Travel restrictions for international students; a determining factor to possible worldwide mobility deterioration.
· Restriction on visa approval to people from countries with high-predominance rates of the infection, particularly from the epicentres of the epidemic (Wuhan, Northern Lombardy, Madrid, New York, Brazil and many others.)
· The future matriculation rates will be determined by the instruments and policies adopted by governments from recipient countries.
· Consider psycho-emotional effects which would reduce the attraction on students for continuing the interrupted international mobility, causing either the lack of enthusiasm of embarking on a new experience of a similar nature or the ones who give up on their interest in pursuing studies abroad.
· Global finance will be shortening private and public resources to educational institutes.
· We currently have a 54% increase in air tickets cost due to the implementation of social distancing in air passenger transport. Predictions are that low-cost flights would possibly disappear.
· Increase in the offer of virtual cross-border Education.
· Traditional mobility could be less attractive than allowing students the opportunity to study subjects at a distance; the higher education institution of origin will recognise the credits taken.
· eMOVIES or the NetACTIVE are initiatives of the Virtual Mobility Space that seek to ease virtual mobility among the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), Latin America and the European Union, supported by the Iberic-American Association for Distance Higher Education (AIESAD).
· House confinements might last longer, significantly affecting the global Economy and pushing 29 million people into poverty.
The purpose of a Virtual mobility approach
The purpose is to gain the same benefit as a student of physical mobility without travelling. However, this “mobility without physical displacement” approach looks complicated when compared to e-learning or mobile learning. The virtual modality will grant credits for courses or subjects taken and full recognition from the home institution; it is a promising concept with application features already implemented in Europe.
CONCLUSIONS: Education technology and international academic mobility will behold tight until universities do restart (partially or entirely) face-to-face activities; factors like physical mobility do not so allow significant flows of global academic mobility. Is your educational institution considering all these variables?