Time’s running out: Study-abroad candidates grapple board exam uncertainty, vaccination delays

Andhra Pradesh told the Supreme Court that it would hold Class 12 board exams.

Delhi-based Priyanka Mohapatra, a career aspirant in the hospitality sector, has just 30 days to submit her documentation for admission in Australia. Eighteen-year-old Mohapatra received confirmed offers from two institutes for an undergraduate degree in hospitality management, but the deadline to submit her mark sheet is nearing.

“I had already sought a two month-extension. However, I have been told that the offers wouldn’t be extended beyond July 25. Since results would only be out by July 31, I am wondering what to do,” she said.

An added factor is that she has to get fully vaccinated before joining physical classes in Sydney. Mohapatra has received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine but her second dose is 84 days away.

Amidst the second wave of COVID-19, students who wish to study abroad are finding it challenging to firm up their plans. On the one hand, board exam-related delays mean that mark-sheet submission cannot be done, while on the other, mandatory vaccination is a cause for concern among Indian students due to the 16-week gap between doses.

Borders are closed across major study locations like the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, especially for Indian travellers. Exceptions are given for student travellers on a case-to-case basis, subject to the condition that they are fully vaccinated.

Every year, close to 800,000 Indian students go abroad, according to education ministry data. The annual spend on education is close to Rs 40,000 crore for these international courses. This year, the pandemic is playing dampener on the foreign education plans of students.

Vaccine choice an issue

International universities in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, France and New Zealand have given clear instructions to prospective candidates that only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to attend physical classes. This makes aspirants like 19-year-old Navjit Sandhu from Ajmer particularly worried.

Sandhu is eyeing an undergraduate management degree from Paris. He was to initially take a shot of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, which was available in his area, but later backed out when he realised that it wasn't a part of the WHO list of approved vaccines.

“I was told by the agency that was helping me with the admission process that only Covishield will be considered eligible. Centres were shut in my area due to unavailability of vaccines and I don't know when my chance would come,” he said.

Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine being produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune, is among the WHO-approved vaccines which students can take. However, there is a vaccine shortage.

States like Maharashtra had announced a special vaccination initiative for students in the state who wish to go abroad for higher education.

To ensure that students are not impacted by the vaccine dose gap, the health ministry had allowed a 28-day gap between two doses. However, not all states have started implementing this structure.

Mumbai-based education consultant Shelly Lobo told Moneycontrol that there are talks of some US universities permitting students to come for physical classes and get vaccinated within the campus.

“However, it wouldn't be advisable to fully depend on the university to get vaccinated. Indian students should get their doses in the country itself before travelling to minimise infection risks,” she added.

Those who contracted COVID-19 have added concerns. Kieran Gonsalves, a Class 12 student from Goa, told Moneycontrol that he contracted COVID-19 just two days before getting vaccinated in the last week of May 2021.
“I was told that I need to wait at least three months to get vaccinated. This means that my plans to travel to Italy for a design course have to be dropped,” he added.

Board exam concerns

As per the CBSE assessment methodology, the board will give 30 percent weightage to final scores from Class 10, 30 percent for Class 11, and 40 percent for Class 12. ISCE will take into account practical exams, internal assessments and Class 10 board exam performance. The results would be declared by July 31, the CBSE had told the Supreme Court.

Admission could be granted through a provisional mark sheet in global institutes. However, schools have not agreed to grant the same. In a non-pandemic year, the results of Class 12 board exams would be declared by June, so that students get time to prepare for higher education admission. However, in 2021, there is no uniformity among state governments on the exams themselves.

For instance, Andhra Pradesh told the Supreme Court that it would hold Class 12 board exams. This comes at a time when states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have cancelled exams. The SC is likely to give a decision on June 24.

Nineteen-year-old Raghav Naidu who was shortlisted in three universities in the US for a computer science programme is still waiting for clarity on his Class 12 board exams in Andhra Pradesh. His school has refused to give a provisional certificate for admissions.

Even states that have cancelled the Class 12 exams have not yet declared the date of results. This delays the study-abroad documentation process since universities offer final admission only when the board exam mark sheet is submitted.

By the second week of July, it is likely that clarity will emerge on the final institute-wise rules to admit candidates offline in international destinations like the US and Australia. Till then, it is a wait-and-watch situation for Indian students.