At the British Council, the health and safety of all our visitors, staff and the communities in which we operate is our top priority. We support and cooperate with all local government agencies to put all necessary measures in place to ensure the continued well-being of all with whom we engage in the course of our operations. This post is to keep UK institutions updated on key South Asian markets amidst the Covid-19 outbreak.

For travel advice, please refer to FCO updates, and we would encourage institutions who are considering travelling to sign up for alerts - https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. We also strongly encourage visiting local government health websites to stay abreast of the prevailing health advisory and precautionary measures in any country. For IELTS test arrangements as a result of Novel Coronavirus precautions, please see  https://www.ielts.org/news/2020/changes-to-ielts-test-arrangements-in-some-locations-due-to-novel-coronavirus.

We are monitoring the situation very closely and will continue to provide updates as the situation develops. For more South Asia updates, webinars, market insights and other services in international higher education, please continue to visit the IES website.

India

On 14 April 2020, Indian government announced an extension to the nationwide lockdown till 3 May 2020 which began on 25 March. There is restriction on public mobility and gatherings, trains, flights and other public transportations have been suspended across the country. Curfews are being imposed in many cities as and when administration thinks this is required for public safety.

All regular visas and entry to the country by foreign nationals have been suspended. However, diplomats and officials of International bodies are exempted from this restriction provided they go through medical screening. Any exemption to above restriction to foreign or Indian nationals are required to furnish duly filled self-declaration form, travel history to Health officials and Immigration officials at all ports and must undergo medical screening at port of entry.

Read more at the links below:

https://boi.gov.in/content/advisory-travel-and-visa-restrictions-related-covid-19

https://boi.gov.in/content/advisory-travel-and-visa-restrictions-related-covid-19-0

Education

• Board exams (for pending subjects) are being postponed. For more details on board exams, please read our previous publication here.
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently announced they are assessing the situation and will give a notice of approximately 10 days to students and other stakeholders before the remaining board exams. Only major subjects will be tested.
• Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) have clarified that they have neither cancelled nor given dates for rescheduling yet, since the last announcement of postponing exams for 10 and 12 standards till 31 March. Most schools have started online classes across all levels. 
• MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource and Development) has advised schools to promote students of classes 1- 8 to next the class/ grade. For classes 9 and 11, institutions who have not completed examinations, evaluation and promotion are advised to promote students to next level based on performance in class tests. Read more here.
• As per an announcement by the MHRD on 27 March 2020, use of its digital educational resources has tripled in a week since access to the SWAYAM resources been made free, which was earlier time bound and required registration. It is interesting to note that students from other countries like USA, UAE, Germany, Nepal, Singapore, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia are also utilising the SWAYAM repository. Read more here.
• On 18 March 2020, all universities were asked to postpone and reschedule exams to after 31 March 2020, but in that time the government declared lockdown till 14 April 2020. There is no further notification regarding college and university exams. Currently all higher education institutions are closed.
• To address mental health and well-being of students who might have faced panic and stress, the UGC has requested HEIs to take measures like helpline numbers, regular monitoring of students and formation of COVID 19 help-groups in hostels. UGC has also provided toll- free number and few links related to mental health and well-being, which can be shared with students by respective HEIs. You can read more here.

Nepal:

In light of COVID-19, the Nepal Government has extended the nationwide lock down until 15 April 2020 and all international flights have been suspended until 30 April 2020.

Education

• The Nepal Examination Board had postponed Secondary Education Examination (SEE), and annual examination of grades 11 and 12 which were scheduled to start from March, late April and early May respectively until further notice.
• British Council Nepal cancelled all IELTS exam including Life Skills and UKVI from 21 March until 15 May 2020. However, when the current situation improves and testing becomes possible again, we will be able to offer CD IELTS in the first instance which we plan to start from April 24, 2020.
• Cambridge Assessment International Education cancelled its examination of May/June series.

Pakistan:

With COVID-19 cases in Pakistan on a steady rise, the entire country is currently under lockdown. While this lockdown was initially supposed to be till 14 April 2020, it is expected to be extended further.
All domestic and international flights have been stopped with very few exceptions.

Education:

• The local secondary and higher-secondary school examinations have been postponed till June and July 2020 respectively. Cambridge International’s May/June session of GCE and IGCSE have been cancelled altogether.
• Junior and Lower secondary schools have decided that they will not be taking exams any longer. The students will be promoted to the higher classes. The schools are closed at the moment on account of summer vacations and plan to resume around July 2020.
• The state-run-television channel called “Teleschool” is likely to begin broadcasting educational programmes next week for students affected by the closure of schools and colleges due to the outbreak. The schooling will be available for 10 hours each day from 8am to 6pm.
• All schools and universities have moved to conduct classes online. Schools have started exploring online tools like Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Moodle and Power Bi, etc.
• Some students have raised concerns regarding the cost of internet and in response, telecom companies on instructions from the government have agreed to lower the cost of internet packages. A mixed response to online classes are keeping institutions from making a firm decision on examinations.
• The WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr. Palitha Mahipala flagged the issue of shortage of nurses in Pakistan. The current strength needs to be doubled to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goal. This has presented an increasing demand of nursing courses nationally during this outbreak.

SRI LANKA

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka has been on the rise. The Director General of Health Services have mentioned that they are currently in the process of ramping up their medical infrastructure to respond to higher number of COVID-19 patients.

Currently Sri Lanka has suspended all passenger arrivals from all countries at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake starting from 0400 hours 19 March 2020. Arrival of passengers will accordingly be halted until 23:59 hours March 25; however, cargo, departures and transit are to be continued. Previously, the Jaffna International Airport (JIA) was shut down for two weeks.

Education

• All schools, public and private, across the country have been shut till 20 April 2020. The state universities and many of the private educational institutes have been closed until further notice as there are strict curfew regulations going around the country.
• The Department of Examinations has stated that results of the G.C.E. Ordinary Level examination results will be released before the 30 April 2020 while the University Grants Commission has decided to extend the deadline for calling applications for university admission for the academic year 2019/2020 based on the results of the General Certificate of Education (G.C.E.) Advance Level examination, 2019, until two weeks after the schools in the country are opened.
• Currently the state universities are using existing e-learning resources and introducing new technologies to enable students to engage in studies remotely. About 125,000 internal students are currently studying at state run universities across the country. Many of these universities have already begun conducting online lectures for their students.
• The Ministry of Education has set up collaborations with the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation to commence two educational television channels from April 20. The two channels will telecast educational programs suitable from primary level to advance level students. This will assist the students with no access to computers and e-learning modules.

[1] https://srilanka.travel/covid19/

[2] https://www.srilankan.com/en_uk/coporate/emergency-news-detail/507

If you have any questions please write to Aatreyee Guha Thakurta (Regional Marketing and Communications Manager, International Education Services, South Asia).