China reluctant to issue Visas to Pakistani students amid H1N1

As Pakistani students remain trapped outside of China because of the country’s zero-COVID policy, anger, frustration, and hopelessness permeate the air around them. Hundreds of thousands of students have been stranded abroad after the outbreak of the H1N1 virus shut down international travel to China since March 2020, leaving the country closed to foreigners.  

The two-year ordeal of awaiting the return to their universities has caused many Pakistani students who are unable to resume their classes on campus to reach the end of their tethers as they await the return of their schools.

In response to the China travel ban, students across the world are joining the international outcry with hashtags such as #TakeStudentsBackToChina and #TakeUsBackToChina in an effort to voice their concerns via the social media channel Twitter.

The majority of foreign students who left China in January 2020 flew home for their winter break, like him. In the midst of this academic limbo they had no idea that the nightmare would last for so long. 

While Chinese universities have begun to move towards online learning, the lack of face-to-face instruction just does not work for STEM students, who are required to complete lab work and practicums in order to fulfill course requirements, despite the fact that Chinese universities have started doing this.

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In order to complete building a prototype based on the simulations I have done, I unfortunately need a laboratory. I am a PhD student and for me to be able to submit several journal articles, I need to have data from my experiments, and that is something that cannot be achieved from home,” he explained to Study International. 

At the time of writing, however, there is no clear mention of an exact timeframe for re-entry be approved in time. In a recent press conference, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, stated that “China will continue to take prevention and control measures” as part of its zero-COVID policy, giving no indication that it will ease any of these measures in the future. 

Students future is important than China Olympics

The Chinese government must allow students back to China before opening up for the 2020 Olympics since education is far more important than the Olympics, and it has been a long time since they have returned to their school already. #TakeUsBackToChina.

In this case, students are referring to the Pakistani Medical Commission (PMC)’s recent official announcement on Twitter. PMC clarifies that any undergraduate or postgraduate certificate obtained via online teaching and tutorial programs without in-person physical training from a PMC-recognized Foreign Medical or Dental teaching institution will not be accepted.