Covid-19 and its influence on life content

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AFTER COVID-19

Dear participants of the Virtual Conference: International Education after COVID-19 organized in collaboration with American Councils for International Education! It is my immense pleasure to welcome all of you in this online event and my gratitude for everyone who showed interest in sharing their experience and perspectives on COVID-19.

COVID-19 has had a big impact on education in general, including international education. It is still challenging each aspect of our daily activities at higher educational institutions. For all of us, COVID-19 was unexpected, and it required an immediate response plan. Universities started to deliver classes online, and I must admit that it was not easy for most of us. While the World Health Organization warns about a second wave of coronavirus infection, the future of international education is still uncertain. We have many questions that still need to be answered. Taking into account the specific characteristics of medical education, how can we be consistent with online education? To what extent can we carry out international projects, academic mobility and other activities online? How will the admission of international students continue?

Dear colleagues, I think that today’s virtual conference will be a good platform to discuss experiences of international education practitioners from Central Asian countries and to find unique solutions for the problems we are facing now.

Around 100 participants from 40 different higher educational institutions of Central Asia are attending today’s event. This will surely facilitate diversity of ideas, perspectives and experiences which ultimately be useful to respond challenges of COVID-19 in our daily activities.

I thank American Councils for International Education, especially Mr. Adrian Erlinger, for cooperation to organize this event. Tremendous work is being carried out by American Councils in strengthening international ties in education, science and technologies between U.S. and Central Asian countries. And I am sure that today’s event is one next step toward approximation of higher educational institutions in responding challenges posed by COVID-19. Thank you very much for your attention!

In Uzbekistan, several actions were taken by higher education institutions (HEIs). Beginning April 1, classroom teaching was replaced by distance teaching and learning. HEIs prepared their immediate response plans to implement online education and verified the existence of technical

infrastructure and accessibility, distance teaching competencies and pedagogies. Final exams, scientific seminars, degree defenses went online. The Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, the State Inspectorate for Supervision of Quality Education, and other agencies provided their support in delivering online education.

Why did we decide to organize this virtual conference? I have to note that this is due to several reasons. The situation with COVID-19 is still uncertain. No one can predict the future of international education at this moment. Forecasts show a long shadow of implications from COVID-19 from one to five years.

HEIs in Central Asia have many questions in terms of International education during and after COVID-19. How will the global context determine the internationalization of universities? How will international education be affected by this crises and aftermath?

The context specific factors of HEIs still need to be addressed. For example, clinical medicine is one of the areas where you can’t replace practice. Online education’s limited to theoretical dimensions of the curriculum is one of the other questions. The scope of the problem is wider. When we talk about COVID-19 in higher education, we also have to mention the social and economic aspects of the problem. The impact of COVID-19 on higher education is likely to be significant with several consequences: unemployment of graduates, inability to pay tuition fees, changing behavior of students, etc.

In order to answer the question of “how will international education look like after COVID-19,” I would like to highlight following points. In the short run, international education will be different. In academia knowledge exchange is essential. From the local perspective, collaboration is between scholars within national borders. But in the global perspective, knowledge exchange entails partnerships outside borders. International partnerships were facing problems even before COVID-19.

In my point of view, international projects, mobility of professors and students, scientific collaborations will not be same as after crises. HEIs will find ways to cope with the situation:

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  Technology will play a key role in delivering education. Teaching and learning, international projects, and scientific collaboration will be carried out online. These are the projects that need minimum international travel. Most of the international agencies already announced a postponement of travel for part of their projects until 2021.
  
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  Mobility of students and professors will be limited to an indefinite period.
  
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  There will be structural changes in the number of international students in HEIs. International students will look for programs in their own countries or at online universities.
  
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  There will be increase and demand for cost-effective educational programs.
  
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  Changes in social and economic systems will lead to changes in curriculum and programs (for example consumer behavior).
  
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  There will be increasing importance on collaborative teaching and learning, co-creation.
  
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  Countries will reconsider their policies in terms of accepting foreign nationals whether it be tourism, education, or anything else. Strict rules for COVID-19 will be introduced for international visitors in countries where tourism or international education is major source of GDP.