T-agitation puts overseas education on hold!!

City students with dreams of studying abroad have had to put their lives on hold due to the last few weeks of bandhs and agitations. With banks and universities closed, students, for whom it is a hard-wrought process to get their financial and educational pre-requisites in place, have been severely affected.

Archana Samaleti, a B.Pharm graduate who wanted to apply to New Mexico University for a Masters in Analytical Chemistry, says, “The university I applied to wants OU to send the transcripts to them directly. I applied for the January intake, but OU hasn’t been functioning regularly for since a month now. All I can do is to wait for the next intake or go to some other country that doesn’t need transcripts right away.”

Students with transcripts in hand have still been unable to send in their applications as banks have been closed and their education loan letters are stuck. U. Arun Kumar, a B.Com student from Kakatiya University who hopes to study in the London School of Business, says, “Banks have been closed on and off. I just hope I get my bank loan letter at the earliest,” he frets.
Srinath S Rao, a B.Com student from Vijetha Degree College, is on the verge of losing Rs 3 lakh if he doesn’t send the bank loan letter by the first week of next month. “I paid Rs 3 lakh towards my MBA at UCLA, Manchester. The classes have begun but I am yet to get the loan letter. If I can’t get my visa before the first week of next month, I will lose my fee amount as it is non-refundable.”

Despite the dire situation in the city, with occasional bandh relaxations, prospects seem better here than for those students who applied for bank loans in their home towns, where the agitation is fierce. “About 40 per cent of students who are getting their visa assistance from us have been affected due to bandhs. The banks in the city are better as they operate through the back door sometimes. But things are bad for students who applied for bank loans in towns where they have properties. Banks have not been operative for the past one month in several areas,” says Kaval Singh, MD of a consultancy.

V. Balakrishna, head of Ace Consultants agrees, “Students lose close to a year if they miss an intake. Special arrangements should be made by banks and universities to ensure that students don’t miss their admission deadlines.”

Universities, now paralysed by campus violence, claim that they are willing to give the transcripts and required certificates on emergency basis, provided the students submit their applications with a demand draft from the bank. “A demand draft is imperative for us to process their application. But since the banks are closed, students are not able to get the DD and so we are also helpless,” says Dr Lalkishore, rector, JNTU

(Published in Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad)