More than 50% of students from all over the world are willing to study in Australia. It is the first choice for international students to pursue their education. There are many reasons why students want to study in Australia. Australia is a country that is packed with a wide variety of cultural diversities. If you are in Australia, you can meet different people with different nationalities, languages and so on. Australia has been a residence for the best universities throughout the world. Studying in Australia costs less and is affordable compared to the other countries. There are many scholarship programs for international students.
Australia is providing a quality education that is affordable and can be manageable by the international students. When the covid-19 pandemic started in 2019, the Australian government announced a lockdown for one month at first. As we know, how the covid speeded like fire. The lockdown is further extended into 6 months. Every individual citizen of Australia has been shaken up by this deadly disease. All the commercial workplaces and educational institutions are shut down. International students are also facing a lot of issues because of this lockdown. In this article, we are going to see how covid-19 has affected the life of International students in Australia.
Challenges faced by the International Students:
Unable to work:
International students were struggling to get a part-time job and a full-time job even before the pandemic. That salary is their only source of money for most of the students. They were paying their rent and managing other expenses using their salary. Usually, International students do their part-time jobs in public places like restaurants, retail stores, and other food services. And even getting academic support from assignment help companies. Because of the pandemic, all the workplaces and institutions are shut down. International students are not able to pay for their food and daily accommodations. Almost 60% of the students are not able to pay their rent and forced to move out to some other place. It is a vulnerable thing that can happen to one person. Parents of international students are also worried about their children’s health and their situation here.
Shared dorms and houses:
Many students were living in the college hostels and dorms and some other students stayed in shared houses for rent before the pandemic started. The students even shared their personal spaces like bathrooms and bedrooms. After the lockdown announced by the government they have to isolate themselves from other people. This resulted in students staying in a separate house or room alone. Living alone will not only create a mental toll on them but also they will have to face the finance issues while paying the rent. As per the college rules, the students who were staying in the college dorm also have to vacate from there. If they are living in shared houses, they might not be able to isolate themselves if they got covid. It puts a risk on other students as well.
Unable to return to their hometown:
Due to the travel restrictions in other countries and Australia, airlines are blocked. Only a few with the analytical reasons are allowed to go. International students are unable to get back to their own country in this pandemic. Not only the students but travelers are also got stuck in Australia because of this. The passengers who traveled recently are advised to isolate themselves and take a covid test. They monitored every patient’s health condition and their reason for traveling. They are only allowed to travel if their results are negative and that report should be taken within a week of traveling.
Expired Visas:
Every year, Australia grants visas to 250000 international students. This number started falling after this pandemic. Students who wanted to enroll this year are not willing to take the risk. They decided to stay in their place or either pursue online education. Most of the international students that are living in Australia are from China and India. Both these countries have a large population and a large number of covid cases. Because of the border restriction, some students who have temporary visas aren’t able to return to Australia. Many visas expired and gone to waste due to this pandemic. The students who are already in Australia are already struggling to pay the rent. They are unable to pay the college fees and their visas are also getting canceled because of that. If that happens, it is illegal and they might face immigration detention.
Mental health:
Staying alone, not being able to go outside, employment, and other financial issues are messing up the international student’s head. Not only are the international students, the young adults all over the world not handling these sudden changes properly. A survey said that international students have more impact on their mental health than local students. It is already tough to come to a country that is far away from your family, experience the cultural and language differences, and be alone in the country you barely knew. This covid situation made it much worse. Many students developed social anxiety and other mental illnesses because of handling these issues. They can’t even able to afford a therapist to calm their mental health.
Safety:
Physical safety is as much as important as mental health. Australia is considered as a safe place for international students. The earlier study research reports that more than 40% of students are feeling less safe. In this pandemic, they have no one to rely on. That is what made them feel less secure. Since they have lack knowledge of support services, they are afraid they might face any sort of exploitation.
Conclusion:
International students serve as the biggest contribution to Australia’s economy. In recent months, border restrictions and lockdown are taken down. All the businesses and educational institutions opened this year. Australia is fully recovered from the covid-19 pandemic. Australia is the first country to go mask-free. International students are also started returning to Australia for their new semester. Whenever you are down and not wanting to complete your college work hire someone and get assignment writing help from Australia’s most trusted company myassignmenthelp online. There are many safety measures and policies are introduced for international students. The government and their reputed institution will provide them both economical and other support if something like this happens again.
