International Student Mobility in the Context of COVID-19 Spread

Inna Plyugina

and Zhanna Gaunova

The Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

Keywords: Educational Migration, International Student Mobility, Covid 19, Foreign Students.

Abstract: Coronavirus infection COVID-19 has become one of the most difficult challenges to the modern world

community: as a response, public authorities in many countries were forced to take significant restrictive

measures aimed at preventing its spread, including those concerning the possibility of population movement

across state borders and within them. In scientific researces, the issue of permissible limits of limitation of

human and civil rights and freedoms in conditions of such large-scale risks and threats to public health was

reassessed, the problem of ensuring a balance of public and private interests acquired new facets. An

inevitable consequence of implementation of restrictive measures was a decrease in the intensity of migration

processes, including educational migration. There are grounds for asserting that under the current conditions

the system of international student mobility is passing the transformation. The goal of the study is to determine

the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international student mobility, identify the problems faced by

foreign students, as well as measures taken to overcome them both by the state and educational organizations.

1 INTRODUCTION

Over the years leading up to the pandemic, there was

a steady increase in the total number of international

students, with many states including in strategic

documents targets to stimulate educational migration

and increase the number of foreign students (for

example, Australia, Canada, the Russian Federation,

Japan). Wherein, in the context of the spread of

COVID-19 coronavirus infection, the number of

foreign students has decreased even in those countries

that are among the world's leaders in the field of

education.

For example, in the United States, the number of

foreign students in colleges and universities has

steadily increased for more than 70 years, but due to

border closures, canceled flights and many other

problems for global mobility in the 2020-

2021 academic year, the number of foreign students

fell by 15 percent compared to from the previous year

to about 914,000 people (Washingtonpost, 2021).

In the Russian Federation, over the past decade,

the number of foreign students has increased by

almost 2.5 times. In the 2019/2020 academic year, the

total number of foreign students at Russian

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8489-5427

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3119-1079

universities was 315 thousand, which is about 8 % of

the total number of students in Russia. In the context

of a pandemic, this indicator has decreased: in 2021,

about 270 thousand foreign students study in Russian

educational institutions of higher education

(hereinafter referred to as the universities)

(Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 2021). The given data show a

decrease in the intensity of educational migration, but

this is still not critical. This is largely due to the rapid

response measures that were implemented at the state

level.

As researchers note, COVID-19 pandemic

(Moscovitz, 2020) has impacted international student

mobility and reshaped the prospects for higher

education around the world. The recognition of

foreign students as a priority migration group led to

development of solutions aimed at supporting this

category of foreign citizens in the face of restrictive

measures introduced in connection with prevention of

the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus infection. The

main difficulty lies in the fact that such measures shall

be coordinated with the general vector of the state's

regulatory impact, aimed at ensuring the safety of the

population and sanitary and epidemiological well-

being, and protecting the health of citizens.

422

Plyugina, I. and Gaunova, Z.

International Student Mobility in the Context of COVID-19 Spread.

DOI: 10.5220/0011121700003439

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference "COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals" (RTCOV 2021), pages 422-426

ISBN: 978-989-758-617-0

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

In preparing the article, general and special methods

of scientific knowledge were used: system-structural

method; formal legal method; comparative legal

method; method of special legal research; doctrinal;

content analysis, and etc. The study was conducted

considering the results of foreign and Russian

scientific studies on the impact of the COVID-19

pandemic on educational migration and the situation

of foreign students. The study methodology involves

the study of foreign experience in providing support

to foreign students, primarily of states – world

leaders, in provision of educational services.

Wherein, the results of sociological studies in various

countries, as well as the corresponding forecast

estimates were considered.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Migration legislation is characterized by such a

characteristic feature as situationality (Andrichenko

and Plugina, 2019). It is impossible to predict fully

the change in migration flows, as well as to predict

the impact on migration processes of certain factors

that determine their qualitative characteristics. The

renewed challenges and threats force us to

systematically revise the tools used to regulate the

migration sphere, take measures to improve the legal

means used, and develop new mechanisms that are

adequate to changing situations.

With a certain degree of conventionality, we can

say that in connection with spread of COVID-19

coronavirus infection, a new stage was laid in the

regulation of migration processes, associated with a

change in the limits of exercise of the right to freedom

of movement, choice of place of stay and residence,

greater differentiation of conditions and order entry

and stay, introduction of additional requirements for

moving people aimed at protecting public health,

ensuring sanitary and epidemiological well-being and

safety (getting vaccinated, having negative PCR test

results, being in quarantine after crossing state

borders, and etc.).

When choosing means of preventing the spread of

coronavirus infection, the question inevitably arises

of ensuring a balance of public and private interests,

the permissible limits of restrictions on the right to

freedom of movement, choice of place of stay and

residence (hereinafter referred to as the freedom of

movement) and other rights and freedoms. In this

regard, in the Emergency Response and COVID-19

Guidelines issued by the Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights on April 27,

2020, it is noted that emergency legislation and

measures shall meet the following requirements: a

strict time limit; the least restrictive measure to

achieve the required public health goals; the inclusion

of guarantees, including revision and termination

clauses, which ensure a return to normal law at the

end of the emergency. In addition, it is emphasized

that, even in an emergency, measures to protect the

health and well-being of populations shall be based

on the rule of law, and emergency powers shall be

used within the parameters established by

international human rights law, namely, the

International Covenant on Civil and political rights.

The International Health Regulations allow for

introduction of thirteen possible WHO

recommendations for States Parties (Article 18),

including: to deny entry to uninfected persons in

contaminated areas; refuse entry to suspicious or

infected persons; conduct screening on the road

and/or impose restrictions on individuals from

contaminated areas; require vaccination or other

preventive measures, quarantine or take other health

measures in relation to persons suspected of being

infected; take measures to isolate and, if necessary,

treat infected persons, and etc (International health

regulations, 2005).

Despite the fact that the content of the measures

taken by states to counter the spread of COVID-19

infection can be generally considered similar (these

measures, for example, often included restrictions on

free movement and public events, use of personal

protective equipment, and etc.), their legal form, and,

consequently, the practice of judicial control over

their application, is characterized by a significant

variety (Constitutional Court of the Russian

Federation. Restrictions on freedom of movement in

the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, URL:

ksrf.ru).

The impact of restrictive measures taken by many

states has affected the education system. It is noted

that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest

disruption to the education system in history,

affecting nearly 1.6 billion students in more than

190 countries on all continents. Closure of schools

and other educational institutions affected 94 % of

students in the world (Policy Brief: Education during

COVID-19 and beyond, august 2020).

Quite often in scientific publications published

since 2020, you can find phrases like “education will

never be the same” or “COVID-19 changed the

situation in the field of education forever”. It is noted

that the traditional education system is being replaced

International Student Mobility in the Context of COVID-19 Spread

423

by a "hybrid" model of education, which combines

face-to-face and online classes (Yıldırım et al., 2021).

The impact of COVID-19 was expressed, namely, in

the following: a change in the way educational

services are provided, the increasing spread of

distance learning methods; stimulating the

development of new educational technologies, tools

used in teaching and transfer; personalization of

training, increasing the proportion of independent

work; more flexible training schedules; and etc.

When characterizing the current state of educational

migration, the concept of "virtual international

student mobility" is often used, reflecting the essence

of the current situation (Bell, Keegan, Zaitseva,

2007).

According to the results of the first global study

on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education

conducted by the International Association of

Universities in March - April of 2020, almost all

universities that took part in the survey (423 out of

424 organizations) stated the negative impact of

COVID-19. Wherein, 89 % of the universities

surveyed also noted the impact of COVID-19 on the

mobility of foreign students: in Europe, almost all

universities were affected (95 %), a high percentage

— in America (78 %), the Asia-Pacific region (85 %),

slightly lower — in Africa (78 %). The nature of this

impact on the mobility of international students is

varied and varies from organization to organization

(Marinoni, 2020).

As for the foreign students themselves, they also

found themselves in a very difficult situation, firstly,

due to the closure of state borders and visa

difficulties, and secondly, transition to online

education instead of the declared and paid full-time

format. Although most educational organizations

quickly replaced face-to-face lectures with online

lectures, the restrictions nevertheless affected the

current learning process. So, in the UK in 2020, a

petition was sent demanding to reimburse students for

tuition due to strikes and COVID-19 (Closed petition.

Reimburse all students of this year’s fees due to

strikes and COVID-19, URL: petition.parliament.uk).

In its response, the government recognizes that

students shall be able to take action if they are not

satisfied with their university's response to the

pandemic. However, the recommendation was

rejected for a new centralized system that allows all

students to easily seek full or partial reimbursement

of tuition fees or repeat part of their course

(Committee welcomes Government response o

coronavirus university report but warns it «risks

letting down students», 2020).

Many foreign students in the current conditions

generally abandon the idea of studying abroad or

choose for the states of their region. Thus, according

to a survey conducted among Chinese and Hong

Kong students (Xiong, Mok, Ke and Cheung, 2020)

84 % of the 2,739 respondents are unwilling to study

abroad after the pandemic. The respondents also

noted that they are mainly focused on education in the

Asian region (Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, and

etc.).

In the context of the transition to online learning,

the problem of the digital divide has become even

more urgent. Many students do not have the technical

ability to study in a distance learning format.

Educational organizations also face difficulties. It is

noted that developing countries find themselves in the

conditions of a lack of resources and experience to

establish in a short time distance learning at a decent

level; there are no experienced programmers and web

designers, institutional, logistical capabilities, no

proven high-quality educational resources, no

understanding of the features of online teaching,

distance learning methods (Karpinskaya, 2020).

It is difficult to say exactly how the tools currently

used in distance learning will be used after returning

to the usual full-time format, but it can be predicted

that they will be largely integrated into the

educational process by that time and with a high

degree of probability will be in that or to some other

extent applied further. However, another point of

view is also expressed: some researchers believe that

after the end of the "coronacrisis", conservative

higher education will remain largely the same, and the

changes will more likely affect the financial side than

the technological side (Altbach, 2020).

Despite the current situation, the competition for

foreign students, it seems, will not lose its relevance

in the foreseeable future, regardless of the format in

which the training will be carried out. In any case, the

determining factor will be the quality of the education

received, its relevance in the international labor

market.

The conditions for the entry and stay (residence)

of foreign students in the state of education will be

relevant if the study is carried out full-time, as well as

if foreign students plan to stay in the state in order to

further work, obtain a residence permit, and etc. In the

case of "virtual international student mobility", such

conditions will not have a decisive influence on the

choice of the state of study.

When regulating international student mobility,

the choice of tools depends on the basic goal pursued

by the state in relation to the relevant category of

RTCOV 2021 - II International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference " COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals

(RTCOV )

424

foreign citizens. Three such basic goals can be

distinguished:

 focus on the export of educational services and

the formation of scientific ties, popularization

of the national education system, integration

into the world educational space;

 using the potential of educational migration to

increase the number of skilled labor;

 stimulating graduates of educational

organizations to permanently reside in the state

of receiving education, and in the future – to

obtain citizenship of this state in order to solve

demographic problems.

If we proceed from the fact that the main goal

pursued by the state in regulating educational

migration is the export of educational services and the

formation of scientific ties, then the primary legal

measures shall be aimed at simplifying the procedure

for entry and stay on the territory of the state of study,

suggest the possibility of transition from one

educational organization to another one, as well as

allow changes in educational programs for which

education is carried out, without re-issuing a visa and

leaving the state of study.

If we consider foreign citizens - graduates of

educational organizations as a potential qualified

workforce with a high degree of adaptation to the host

society and focus on the task of increasing the number

of working-age population, then it seems reasonable

to simplify the procedure for carrying out labor

activities for foreign students during the period of

study, as well as in providing conditions to find a job

after graduation.

Finally, in order to stimulate persons who have

received vocational education to permanently reside

or to obtain citizenship of the state of study in order

to improve the general demographic situation, it is

advisable to create preferential conditions for

acquiring citizenship, simplifying the procedure for

obtaining a residence permit.

In the context of the spread of COVID-19

coronavirus infection, special operational measures

were implemented to support foreign students and

create conditions for their continued education. First

of all, such measures are associated with a change in

the procedure for entering and staying in the territory

of the state for receiving education, extending visas in

a simplified manner, less often – they involve the

provision of social support, an increase in the length

of stay after graduation, and expansion of

employment opportunities.

For example, in the Russian Federation in August

2021, it was decided to remove the last restrictions on

the entry of Russian students, and regardless of

whether there is an air connection with the country of

departure or not, and algorithms for the work of

universities with foreign students have been

approved.

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the

Russian Federation is considering draft Federal Law

No. 1193560-7 "On Amendments to the Federal Law

"On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the

Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of

the Russian Federation", aimed at simplifying the

order of stay (residence) of foreign citizens and

stateless persons who arrived in the Russian

Federation in order to receive education in a state

educational institution of higher education or a state

scientific organization. Namely, its provisions offer

to introduce a temporary residence permit for the

purpose of obtaining education; foreign citizens who

have it will be able to obtain a residence permit in the

Russian Federation within three years after

graduation in a simplified manner, as well as a

number of other preferences.

In some countries, restrictions on the employment

of foreign students have been relaxed. So, among the

latest changes in the UK, which is one of the world

leaders in the field of educational services, this year

an initiative was implemented that allows certain

categories of students to stay in the UK for work or

job search for 2 years (3 years if they are studying at

PhD level). In Ireland, it has been decided that student

visa holders can work 40 hours a week until further

notice of the change in rules.

Opening of state borders and the granting the right

of entry to foreign students has been uneven. For

example, the PRC is still closed to foreign students.

Student visa holders will be able to enter Australia

from December 15, 2021, subject to full vaccination

with certain vaccines (International Student Arrivals,

coronavirus.vic.gov.au). The Government of Canada

announced that, effective January 15, 2022, certain

groups of travelers who are currently exempted from

entry requirements will only be allowed to enter the

country if they are fully vaccinated with one of the

vaccines approved to enter the country; such groups

include foreign students aged 18 and over.

Educational organizations are also implementing

their own measures to support foreign students by

increasing scholarships, canceling dormitory fees,

helping patients with coronavirus infection,

promoting temporary employment, and etc. For

example, in Tomsk State University of Control

Systems and Radioelectronics, in order to help

students and graduates of the university in finding

work, the Employment Promotion Center was

opened, which provides consultations and also

International Student Mobility in the Context of COVID-19 Spread

425

organizes meetings with employers in the framework

of various events.

Many educational organizations have changed the

standardized testing requirements for admission.

Thus, more than half of all four-year colleges and

universities in the United States did not require taking

the ACT and SAT test results upon admission in the

fall of 2021 (More Than Half of All U.S. Four-Years

Colleges and Universities Will Be Test-Optional for

Fall 2021 Admission, fairtest.org).

4 CONCLUSIONS

The restrictive measures taken by many states in

order to protect the population and ensure security

have significantly influenced educational migration

and the situation of foreign students. It is very

difficult to predict exactly how the educational

system will change after the restrictions are lifted, but

there is reason to believe that by that time the tools

used for online learning will be tested and largely

integrated into the educational process, its complete

withdrawal is unlikely.

When choosing restrictive measures at the

national level, including in relation to foreign

students, different approaches are used. It is necessary

to take into account the limits of restrictions

established by international standards, as well as to

correlate the adequacy of the measures taken to the

existing challenges and threats.

In many states, additional measures are being

taken to support foreign students who find themselves

in a difficult situation in the context of the spread of

the coronavirus infection COVID-19 and the

limitation of movement. Such measures are

associated with a change in the conditions of entry

and stay in the territory of the state of education, the

extension of visas in a simplified manner, provision

of social support, increase in the length of stay after

graduation, the expansion of employment

opportunities, and etc. Their choice depends on the

total number of foreign students studying in

educational institutions of a particular state, the

available financial and economic opportunities to

provide social and other support measures, the level

of protection of the population from COVID-19

coronavirus infection (including taking into account

the number of vaccinated persons), and etc.

REFERENCES

Andrichenko, L. V., Plugina, I. V., 2019. Migration

legislation of the Russian Federation: development

trends and application practice: monograph, M.:

IZiSP: Norm: INFRA M, 392 p.

Khabrieva, T.Ya., 2019. Migration law: comparative legal

research: monograph, M.: Institute of Legislation and

Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian

Federation, 200 p.

Moscovitz, H., 2020. The «International University» in an

immobile world: rethinking internationalisation in the

COVID-19 era. URL: https://postpandemic

university.net/ 2020/09/13/the-international-university-

in-an-immobile-world-rethinking-internationalisation-

in-the-covid-19-era/.

Gonzalez, T., De la Rubia, M.A., Hincz, K.P., Comas-

Lopez, M., Subirats, L., Fort, S. and Sacha, G.M., 2020.

Influence of COVID-19 confinement on students

performance in higher education, PLOS ONE, Vol. 15

No. 10, pp. 1-23.

Yıldırım, S., Bostancı, S.H., Yıldırım, D.Ç. and Erdoğan,

F., 2021. Rethinking mobility of international university

students during COVID-19 pandemic, Higher

Education Evaluation and Development, Vol. 15 No. 2,

pp. 98-113.

Bell F., Keegan H., Zaitseva E., 2007. Designing Virtual

Student Mobility, The fourth education in a changing

environment conference book, p. 59. URL: http://

www.ece.salford.ac.uk/proceedings/papers/06_07.pdf.

Marinoni, G., 2020. Hilligje van’t Land, Jensen T., The

impact of COVID-19 on higher education around the

world. IAU Global Survey Report.

Xiong, W., Mok, K.H., Ke, G. and Cheung, J.O.W., 2020.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on international higher

education and student mobility: student perspectives

from Mainland,China and Hong Kong, Working Paper,

№ 54, September 2020. Published by the Centre for

Global Higher Education.

Altbach, P.G., Wit de. H, 2020. COVID-19: The

internationalisation revolution that isn’t, University

World News. 2020. March 14.

RTCOV 2021 - II International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference " COVID-19: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals

(RTCOV )

426