British academic institutions who have been relying on Chinese international students’ tuition are fearing the worst. According to Chinese students’ experiences on the southern England campus, racism came before Covid-19 but accelerated due to the pandemic.
As a Chinese student Ms. Zhou, recalled, she saw election posters of two Chinese International students candidates scribbled, ‘Vote corona.’
However, things have taken a new dimension following the ravaging results of coronavirus in Britain. Zhou says in England there were no proper measures to manage the outbreak of coronavirus as compared with China.
Chinese international students decry poor mitigation measures
There are concerns over how the British colleges have managed the pandemic that could escalate into financial hardships.
Admission of Chinese learners in these universities could plummet following rising tension over how Chinese students have been treated over the virus issue.
Already the government is ready to bail out the schools if the Asian students continue staying at their abodes, depriving the universities of the much-exaggerated rates for international students.
A graduate of Chinese culture says that British Universities have been used to one stream of revenue and if Chinese international students did not report by September, seismic changes would be felt across the universities.
Racially profiled and attacked when wearing masks
Some Chinese international students in Britain are disgruntled as the institutions did not act wisely while taking the studies to online platforms and opting out of spring ball activities. In interviews, the students said they had to choose options between wearing surgical masks and being racially profiled and attacked following a reported case in London.
With China seeming to have contained the situation, most of the Chinese students are jostling for tickets to go back home. Most Chinese International students were locked up at home following travel bans from Austria With more concerns from China to compel students not to travel to virus stricken areas.
In the United States, rapid closure of schools left Chinese students stranded while looking for affordable flights back to China.
Administrators of Universities in the US are bracing for students who are afraid of traveling in the new wake of the virus as they do not find it worthy to shell out huge amounts of funds to acquire an international degree.
In Britain, the institutions of higher learning kept wooing Chinese students following the governments’ decrease in funding. More than 120,000 Asian students are members of university student bodies, the majority are Chinese.
An instructor from one of the British universities remarked that the number of Chinese student admissions in the colleges determines keeping afloat or going bankrupt.
Featured image credits: Bing
