Most of them lean on small trailers filled with two or three huge suitcases, and their arms are hung with beef jerky and biscuits prepared for the children in the morning. Four hours before takeoff, bored parents began to get together and whispered whether the plane would be late or not, and what about the epidemic situation abroad? Aside, those children who are worried about them are boring to brush their mobile phones.
In addition to the check-in staff, there are at least six staff responsible for maintaining order and ensuring the 1 meter interval, shuttling through the zigzag isolation zone to discourage accompanying parents from moving outside the isolation zone.
After last year's visa policy and the scale of international navigation, with the acceleration of vaccination in COVID-19, many universities in the United States, Britain, Canada and other countries resumed offline courses in autumn on 202 1.
On April 26th, the State Council issued a notice saying that starting from August 1/M-1,international students with F-1visas will no longer be affected by the 14-day travel ban, that is, international students can fly directly from China to the United States within 30 days before the start of school, without having to stay in a third country for 65444.
After the news was released, the number of students studying in the United States has increased since August. Coupled with the large number of international students stranded in the epidemic and the limited number of flights at present, the airport security inspection time has become longer and the ticket price has begun to soar.
A staff member at the airport told the Economic Observer that the number of international students going abroad has been increasing since August. Due to the need of epidemic prevention and control, in addition to the necessary passport and visa, it is also necessary to fill in the nucleic acid test report and scan code of the customs quarantine form. The increase in procedures also allows more passengers to choose to arrive at the airport earlier, but generally speaking, 4 hours can ensure that passengers check in on time.
An international student told reporters that the price of the Chicago flight his classmate bought in April was 1.8 million yuan. Now, due to repeated epidemics, the flight policy is not completely liberalized, and most people need to transfer to their destinations several times. The price of economy class air tickets is also 20,000-30,000 yuan, while that of first class and business class is 60- 1 10,000 yuan.
According to the previous statistics of the Ministry of Education, the total number of students studying abroad in China in 20 19 was 703,500. After being isolated by the epidemic for a year, some people began to embark on the road of studying again in this gradually "thawed" world.
Jin Xin, director of MSBO project in Kai Tak, told the Economic Observer that with the continuous progress of vaccine research and development, many countries have launched large-scale vaccination projects, and the international relations of openness, mutual trust and cooperation between countries are recovering. Under such circumstances, the recovery of the study abroad market is just around the corner. Taking the United States as an example, most colleges and majors have given the time for offline registration in autumn, which is generally between August and September in previous years; Most universities in Britain are also encouraging students to participate in offline teaching as much as possible; Canadian universities such as McGill University, University of Toronto and Dalhousie University recently announced that they will open their campuses this fall and resume offline teaching on the basis of officially recognized vaccines.
Pack your bags three days in advance.
On August 25th, less than 12, Wang Jia joined the long queue of Cathay Pacific check-in window with her parents.
"Better early than late," said Wang Jia's mother.
In order to go back to school smoothly, Wang Jia packed her luggage three or four days ago. In Wang Jia's two huge suitcases, in addition to the clothes and daily necessities for this trip to the United States, there are two pieces bought in the New Year.
There is a reason for this caution: the cost of flights is too high to miss.
With the news of the resumption of offline courses in various countries, students preparing to leave in August and September pay attention to the ticket price again. The news that social media has a ticket of 654.38+ 10,000 yuan to the United States is hard to find has also seized the hot search list.
Wang Jia told reporters that due to the current epidemic, almost all flights need to turn around. This time, his air ticket to America is 23,000 yuan in economy class. Although it is much more expensive than before the epidemic, it can only be reluctantly accepted compared with delaying school.
On September 13, Fang Lin, who is about to go to the UK to study PhD, also felt the popularity of recent air tickets.
In May this year, Fang Lin received an email notice from a British school, saying that she would resume offline teaching in the autumn of September depending on the overall epidemic situation. This also means that Fang Lin will complete all the preparatory work such as submitting visas and nucleic acid certificates in August.
In order to save part of the cost of this trip, Fang Lin chose a bumpy route on the premise that the direct flight between China and Britain has not been resumed. He needs to fly from Beijing to Guangzhou, then from Guangzhou to Dubai, stopping in Dubai for a short time, and finally reaching his destination in London.
Fang Lin, who booked a plane ticket on August 5, spent a total of 6.5438+0.9 million yuan due to the snapping up caused by three connecting flights. It's not too expensive to accept. As far as she knows, students who transfer in Hong Kong usually book tickets at the same time. The overall price of economy class is1.5-20 thousand yuan, and the maximum price will not exceed 30 thousand yuan.
65438+ 10 million yuan, Wang Jia thinks that the high probability is the price of first class. "Although the number of flights has increased compared with before, it is still greatly reduced compared with before the epidemic. In addition, international students stranded in China last year returned to school this year due to the epidemic, which digested such a large passenger flow in a short time, which naturally led to an increase in air tickets. "
"But it's not as exaggerated as online. No matter the students who went to the United States before and after, or my observation, the general price of economy class is 20,000-30,000, "Wang Jia said.
From "freezing" to "thawing"
Wang Jia suffered a loss on the plane ticket.
From June, 5438 to October, 2020 10, the epidemic spread fiercely all over the world, and the State Council of the United States listed Chinese mainland as Grade 4. Within a few days, American Airlines suspended flights between China and the United States. In the following months, Chinese mainland airlines also grounded and reduced flights between China and the United States.
On March 26th, the Civil Aviation Administration of China officially issued the order 12, that is, "one flight, one country, one line, one week", which is also called "five ones" by the majority of international students. It is required that the flights carried out in the week of March 12 shall prevail, and foreign airlines can only keep one flight to Chinese mainland. Strict prevention and control measures shall be taken for flights entering and leaving China to ensure that the passenger load factor is not higher than 75%, and the number of flights between China and the United States shall be reduced to 4 flights per week.
After the number of flights was restricted or cancelled, the ticket price began to soar. Since then, under the hype of scalper tickets, the economy class fare from the United States to China has reached 654.38+ 10,000 yuan. Usually a one-way ticket costs only 3500 yuan. After careful consideration, Wang Jia finally gave up returning to China and continued to take online classes in the United States.
Wang Jia's experience in online class is not good. At first, several students accompanied him in class. However, with the increasingly serious epidemic abroad, students have chosen to return to China. In the end, he was the only one who stayed in America. This also makes Wang Jia, who has not been in contact with the outside world for a long time, feel a little depressed.
Wang Jia was very homesick for a while. Especially in March and April last year, the epidemic spread rapidly in the United States and Europe. At that time, Wang Jia was still vivid. "Some people have returned to China many times, and some people continue to stay abroad due to multiple factors such as the entry policies of the two countries and flight prices. The unfavorable epidemic prevention policy represented by the United States has aggravated the psychological panic of our group. It is a rare experience to face the heartfelt fear of the virus and accept the loneliness of being trapped abroad.
In May this year, Wang Jiacai finally returned to Beijing after a long absence.
According to the survey of QS "How does the COVID-19 epidemic affect international students", more than half of the students think that their study abroad plans have been affected by the epidemic, and the number of international students affected by the epidemic is the largest, accounting for 66%.
Under the influence of the epidemic, the policies of studying abroad in various countries are constantly changing, which has brought an impact on the study and life of international students. However, with the popularization of vaccines in COVID-19, the market for studying abroad is also recovering.
Taking Britain as an example, Sun Bo told the Economic Observer that at present, 70% of the population in Britain has been fully vaccinated, and the unvaccinated minors will also complete the vaccine registration plan for minors before the end of this year 10.
In Canada, Kai Tak Education introduced that at present, with the acceleration of vaccination in COVID-19, Canada, the vaccination coverage rate in the country is getting higher and higher, and universities have gradually issued notices to require residents to vaccinate and plan to resume offline teaching.
The world is slowly thawing.
The choice of international students
Fang Lin used to struggle, whether to go to the UK to study PhD or stay at home. This psychological game is not only mixed with parents' worries, but also comes from their own anxiety about foreign epidemic prevention policies. In addition, in February and March last year, the large-scale cancellation of TOEFL and IELTS brought about an extension of the application progress. "At that time, I really wanted to give up," Fang Lin said.
After careful weighing, Fang Lin's balance finally tilted to foreign countries. "Mainly limited by the fact that my major in structural anthropology belongs to a relatively small minority, I have fewer choices in China, and the development time of this subject in the UK is slightly longer. The direction of my study, the system is more mature, and there will be more teachers. The overall academic atmosphere there also makes me want to study in the past. "
According to Fang Lin, most of the students who postponed studying abroad last year have set off to study abroad in the near future. Everyone has the same idea about each other, and the epidemic will still have some impact, but it seems ok at present, so we can only do more protection and preparation at ordinary times.
Many people on social media such as Weibo and Zhihu are discussing whether it is wise to study abroad at this time. Wang Jia is puzzled by the proliferation of topics. When she was in high school, she was arranged by her family to study in the United States. Many students who were preparing for undergraduate study also gave up the plan of college entrance examination and began to prepare for going to the United States 5-6 years in advance. This also makes them unable to return to domestic universities under the current educational premise.
"I want to go back and finish my studies, and my long-term academic insistence cannot be forgotten because of the epidemic," Fang Lin said.
For most international students, it is necessary to persist in studying abroad.
According to "Hurun 2020 White Paper on Demand Management of High Net Worth Population in China", for undergraduate and postgraduate students, most of the intended students do not intend to give up studying abroad, mainly delaying their study plans. The white paper "How the COVID-19 epidemic affects international students" released by QS, a global higher education analysis organization, in the second half of 2020 also shows that more than half of the 30,000 international students surveyed said that their study abroad plans were affected by the epidemic, among which China international students were the most affected, accounting for 66%. Nearly half of the affected international students decided to postpone their study abroad plans, and a few decided to change their study destinations, but less than 10% decided to cancel their study abroad plans. The proportion of international students in China who decide to give up studying abroad is the lowest, only 4%.
go back to school
Fang Lin and Wang Jia are excited about returning to school after suspension of classes and online teaching during the severe epidemic in 2020.
They still need to face some minor troubles. The epidemic once hindered the smooth flow of international doors. Although the current situation has improved, there will still be great differences in access policies among countries. Take America, a popular country for studying abroad, as an example. Jin Xin, director of Kai Tak Meishuo Bo Project, told the Economic Observer that at present, most universities in the United States require students to be vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine approved by WHO before returning to school or entering school. In addition, foreign students should also provide the negative report of COVID-19 nucleic acid test issued within 72 hours before departure, and take various epidemic prevention measures.
In the UK, Sun Bo, director of Kai Tak's study abroad program in the UK, said that according to British regulations, China students need to be quarantined for 10 days at present, and students can designate and book isolation places by themselves. Before going abroad, students also need to fill in the isolation location online, and nucleic acid testing is needed twice during the isolation period. The official website of the British government has also published the designated official institutions, so that entry personnel can purchase test kits in advance. In Europe, the entry requirements of most countries are limited to the issuance of nucleic acid test reports, and vaccination is not mandatory.
The global vaccination rate has promoted the sustained recovery of the international student market, but some long-term effects remain to be seen.
On June 5438+ 10 this year, the Inventory of China's Study Abroad Market in 2020 and 20021Outlook published by Kai Tak Education Online showed that in 2020, affected by the epidemic, the scale of visa processing and international navigation was limited, which also brought great challenges to overseas students in China. Under the joint influence of epidemic situation and international environment, "safety factor" will become one of the most concerned factors for China students to choose their study destinations in 2020, second only to "education quality".
Concerns about security issues have also led to a more obvious cooling of studying abroad at a younger age. According to the data of Hurun Report, the willingness to study abroad in high school has dropped by 50%.
In May of this year, at a press conference, the person in charge of the future study in New Oriental said that the epidemic had made the academic planning of those who planned to study abroad more diversified. According to the survey data in New Oriental's "20021White Paper on Studying in China", 44% of the people who are interested in studying abroad are still determined to study abroad; 47% people are prepared with both hands and pay attention to various ways of further study except studying abroad; Less than 1% of people intend to give up studying abroad because of the epidemic in the short term. Among the interested groups who pay attention to all kinds of continuing education channels above undergraduate level, 58% give priority to alternative continuing education channels related to international education, such as Sino-foreign cooperation in running schools and overseas universities setting up branches in China.
In terms of the purpose of studying abroad, the person in charge said that under the influence of the epidemic, the blind purpose of studying abroad in the past is declining, such as feeling that the future employment is good, or studying abroad because you like foreign culture. The proportion of people who pursue "learning advanced foreign knowledge" and "attending famous foreign schools" is increasing.
"In addition, the international employment environment has been impacted, which has led more and more international students to choose to return to China for employment, while many domestic enterprises have a higher awareness of the comprehensive ranking when screening resumes, which has also led more interested international students to pay attention to the comprehensive ranking of institutions to some extent." The person in charge said.
Employment, prospects ... these are still things to face in the future. For international students who are ready to leave, the urgent task is still to start the new semester as soon as possible.
In the afternoon 1: 06, the number of people who came to check-in gradually increased to three or four hundred, and Cathay Pacific check-in personnel arrived at their posts one after another, and the crowd ushered in a small climax. In addition to urging the accompanying parents to retreat from the isolation zone, the international students also put away their mobile phones and fumbled for materials such as nucleic acid certificates from their schoolbags. In the crowd, some parents who didn't want to leave their children complained in a low voice.
In 25 hours, American students, including Wang Jia, will arrive at JFK T8 airport. According to the plan, after arriving in the United States, Wang Jia will clean up her house, get jet lag, and then prepare to start a new semester.
(At the request of the interviewee, both Wang Jia and Fang Lin are pseudonyms. )
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Li Jing Economic Observer reporter
Da kechuang news department reporter
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