Almost, all the facets of daily lives have been hit hard because of the Covid-19. Many people lost their jobs and companies got shut down. Transportation incurred huge losses, many educational institutions discontinued due to low or no income. The breadwinners are overburdened financially and mentally. This pandemic is undoubtedly taking a toll on the mental health of a lot of people. Everyone is affected by similar situations in one or the other way.
One enormous area that pandemic had affected immensely is Higher Education. There is a lot of dilemma and confusion faced by the students and the universities at this point concerning enrollments and admissions. Everything regarding the results, college admissions and the reopening of the colleges seem very uncertain in the face of such situations. University admissions have already delayed by Six months. The offline admission procedure has now turned into an online admission procedure. Simultaneously the lectures for the older students are already in place via online mode. All these things which are happening in these times have created stress for the college and universities’ staffs. Teachers and staff are at the edge of burnout because of constant exposure to laptops. All the documents and formalities regarding admissions procedures are through the online mode resulting in a lot of stress and anxiety in the teachers, admission cell, college staff and the students.
However, the situation is even worse for the universities and the colleges that take admissions based on entrance exams like NLU, IHM, JEE et cetera. Due to lockdown on 22nd march, 2020, many universities had to face a constant delay in conducting their exams. The Entrance examinations which were to be conducted in April or May are now scheduled to be held in September and October. In addition to that, the interview and counselling process of the students before the admission will be held online. The admission process which included entrances, interviews and counselling will run with a delay of 6 months. Moreover, these late admission procedures will impact the complete academic year of the students.
Given the large population of students that have or will migrate overseas for college are also unsure and unsettled with their universities admissions. Every country has different criteria for admitting students from other countries. However, the pandemic will negatively impact the processing of newly admitted international students’ air travels and visa requests. Additionally, as the international students tend to pay more than the domestic student, coupled with the uncertainty of situations wherein, students are unable to come to campus due to restrictions on air travels and issuance of visa, there will be a fall in the number to international students migrating overseas because their non-appearance unquestionably means lost tuition revenue. This will, in turn, affect universities’ annual revenue.
Last but not least, as the pandemic has incurred huge losses to people, there will be many dropouts from the educational institution, especially from the private colleges and universities with exorbitant fees. This may impact the annual income of the college and that will consecutively impact the college staffs’ salaries. Undoubtedly, the pandemic had deeply implicated consequences for universities, colleges and other educational institutions. The circumstances changed the nature and the workings of the educational institutions in every aspect.
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