The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced significant changes and restrictions in the education of students in foreign educational institutions.
Most universities, responding to the demands of their Ministries of Health, reacted quickly and increased attention to the safety of students and staff. The training was mostly transferred to the online format. Sanitizers were installed everywhere in educational institutions and dormitories, a mask regime and restrictions on the movement of students were introduced. But some of those activities had both positive and negative effects on the learning process.
Poland
Students who started studying in technical schools and universities in Poland crossed the border during the pandemic with copies of certificates of enrollment and without providing negative tests. The Polish government has exempted pupils and students from a 14-day quarantine. Exemption from quarantine is valid in 2021. After arrival, prospective students were not required to take the COVID test. The inauguration of the academic year took place remotely without inviting students.
For students who started studying in technical schools, the school year began in the usual stationary mode, students attended classes taking all sanitary norms. Traditionally, they were checked for temperature, wearing masks and more. From October 2020, when distance learning started, students had the right to choose to stay in the country or return to Ukraine and study remotely online from home.
The analysis conducted by the Kudapostupat portal shows that distance learning has negatively affected the quality of education. Systematic interruptions of the Internet and improvement of the functionality of programs – platforms on which training is carried out. Lack of real control over who and where in this period of distance lectures is. Practice shows that some students were in bed, others were driving the car, or at work.
Many people are really engaged and are engaged in their affairs, but are only in contact and answer some questions. For example: “Is everything clear? – The answer: “Yes, clear”. Students also had difficulty recording lessons or lectures in computer memory. Computers are overloaded or there is not enough disk space. Therefore, the portal recommends that future students take this into account. Most students have lost their eyesight due to the regular presence at the computer. Psychological exhaustion was happening to students as a result of constant attention to the computer and the lecturers.
Students lost the opportunity to visit laboratories, to conduct experiments to feel what real student life is. Grill, go to museums or theaters, go to the pool or gym. And it’s no secret that many students have stopped studying due to this.
In technical universities, teachers who solved problems almost always did so legibly, which also required special concentration of the student’s eyesight. Students did not try to ask or clarify, just to reduce the time of online classes. Students had to write tests and exams and take photos and attach them to their offices, which also required extra time and quality phones for photos. The time devoted for this procedure did not increase as a result. And communication between students took place and actually is taking place on the Internet.
If during a normal student life, during a break, a student could come to the dean’s office and solve their problems, the distance learning, deprived of contact with the dean’s office. Because the latter work during school hours and the student doesn’t have the the opportunity to solve the problems in time, such as getting a student card, or to extend it, which requires personal presence.
Students who have accommodated in dormitories and wish to study remotely have to continue paying for accommodation. There were no decisions of the university management in this regard. Today, the dormitories of Polish universities are almost empty. There is no hectic life in dormitories.
The situation is the same with apartments rented by students. Most paid bail (deposits) and did not even live in apartments for a day.In state universities in Poland – such as the Cracow Polytechnic from the university budget, each student was allocated a single 400 zlotys. on means of protection against Covid -19.
A good reason why students do not stay in Poland during quarantine is a hard lockdown. Almost everything is closed: shopping malls, museums, fitness clubs. Wearing masks is obligatory everywhere.
We advise you to follow the current reports on the epidemiological threat of coronavirus before traveling abroad on the website of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) at: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/ country – reviews.
Who can enter Poland?
Up-to-date information on persons authorized to cross the Polish border can be found on the website of the Border Guard Service https://www.strazgraniczna.pl/.
The admission campaign of 2021/2022 to Polish universities is taking place as usual. Enrollment takes place without the personal presence of students by providing educational and application documents. If you need to pass an interview or take entrance exams, entrants have the opportunity to pass them remotely.
Slovakia