Covid costs add to burden of students headed to UK

Covid costs add to burden of students headed to UK

Himanshi.Dhawan@timesgroup.com

24.09.2021

Delhi-based Aryan D’Rozario, who plans to fly to Oxford University next week, is stressed and confused. This has less to do with joining the new Masters program and more to do with the changes in the UK government advisory for Indians traveling to their country.

“I took Covishield because it was on the WHO’s approved list of vaccines and thought that this would help me when I travel. Instead, I will be treated as unvaccinated by the UK,” said D’Rozario, who is among the 65,000 Indians who have got a UK student visa this year, up 30% from last year.

On September 22, the UK added Indian-made Covishield to the list of recognised vaccines, but it doesn’t recognise the vaccine certificate issued by India. Despite being double vaccinated and undergoing an RT-PCR test before flying, Indians have to go through a 10-day quarantine and take two tests (on day 2 and day 8) before they can continue their trip. While it puts tourist and business travel plans awry, the rules have hit students badly as the quarantine and tests regimen is an additional burden to an already rather expensive course of study.

D’Rozario has been allowed by his university to isolate in his hostel room but has to pay extra for food and lodging for the 10 days. He estimates his expenses will be upwards of 350-400 pounds (about Rs 40,000). “I am just very angry. I find this very unfair that the vaccine administered in India is not being treated at par with that of Europe or the US,” he said.

Ruthvika Bhandari, who is hoping to fly out next week to Greenwich University, has been scrambling for temporary accommodation. The Hyderabad-based doctor was told by the apartment landlord that she could only move in after she finished her quarantine. “The landlord does not want to take a chance so I will have to spend an additional 1,000 pounds (Rs 10,000) for my stay and the three tests,” she said. She is already spending Rs 30 lakh for her course in public health.

Students also complain that testing for Covid has been outsourced to private agencies that are charging heavily. NISAU-UK, an Indian students’ body, said that changes in rules have been the top most worry for the students joining in the August-September session. NISAUUK’s chairperson Sanam Arora said, “Students feel they are being treated like cash cows. They have issues like arranging for dual accommodation and forking out up to 300 pounds (Rs 30,000) for tests. The UK is not a racist country but this policy has not been well thought out at all.” Indian students contribute heavily to the UK economy and the fact that they make the second largest student body — international students contribute 28.8 billion pounds to the country’s economy — seem to have played a part in the British government walking back from its earlier advisory. The advisory did not recognise Indians who had received two doses of Covishield as vaccinated at all. The move was criticised by the Indian government as “discriminatory.”

NOT A SMOOTH TAKE OFF?

On September 22, the UK added Covishield to the list of recognised vaccines, but it doesn’t recognise the vaccine certificate issued by India. Despite being double vaccinated and undergoing an RT-PCR test before flying, Indians have to go through a 10-day quarantine and take two tests before they can continue their trip