COVID-19: Pakistani students left in lurch due to China travel restrictions

Pakistani students studying in Chinese universities, who got stranded due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Beijing, fear if they would be able to return to pursue their qualifications.

In its report, Islam Khabar reported that China is the most noteworthy investor in Pakistan. Feared with his plummeting popularity and the next general elections scheduled in mid-2023, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sought to secure Chinese financial assistance. However, assurance and assistance were also needed by Pakistani students enrolled in China and stranded in Pakistan, to go back to China and complete their studies.

Pakistani students studying in Chinese universities increased significantly after the launching of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the ambitious flagship project of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Pakistan.

The number of Pakistani students in China in 2013 stood at 9,630. In 2019, 28,023 Pakistani students were enrolled in various Chinese educational institutions in various disciplines, Islam Khabar reported citing the official data published by China's Ministry of Education.

The official data further added that off these, 7,034 were studying in state-sponsored scholarshipprogrammes. Pakistan stands at third in the number of international students enrolled inChinese universities, with South Korea and Thailand taking up the first and second positionsrespectively.

China had deferred the entry of foreign nationals in March 2020 to stop the spread ofCOVID-19. As part of its policy to not issue visas to international students to control thespread of the coronavirus pandemic in its country, many international students enrolled inChinese educational institutions were left in a lurch, said the report.

The report said that it has been close to two years now, and the Pakistani students stranded at home fear that if they are unable to join back and complete their courses they would lose out on their qualifications.

The Pakistan Medical Commission does not allow medical students who had to opt foronline classes to apply for medical practice licenses in Pakistan. Since their degrees will not berecognized, they have nowhere else to go but complete their unfinished courses from Chinato enable them to apply for their medical license for practising in Pakistan.

The same has been the case for many PhD students who are required to complete their practical lab work as part of the requirement to complete their PhD in China and have been unable to complete this owing to travel restrictions, the report said.

The Pakistani students enrolled in Chinese educational institutions have been appealing the Pakistan PM to represent the voice of the students to the Chinese government heads for their return and resume their courses. Although the Pakistani government has repeatedly said that it is in touch with the Chinese government regarding the return of Pakistani students to their enrolled Chinese universities, not much progress has been made in this regard, Islam Khabar reported.

( With inputs from ANI )

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