For all airline passengers from the Philippines to the United States, the rules are clear. Everyone ages two years and older must provide a negative COVID-19 viral test taken within 3 calendar days of travel. Alternatively, travelers to the United States may provide documentation from a licensed health care provider of having recovered from COVID-19 in the 90 days preceding travel.

For travelers the other way, from the US to the Philippines, so too are valid, existing visas required at the time of entry. Quarantine is also required for 7 to 14 days in a government-controlled hotel or facility. 

Amid such border entry restrictions and mandatory quarantines, it is little wonder that international higher education has been dramatically impacted. The relatively few students from across the Indo Pacific region who are fortunate enough to be able to afford higher education abroad are facing challenging times. 

Even in the best of times, the costs can be prohibitive. As an example, the Institute of International Education (IIE) reports that foreign higher education students pay some of the highest fees in the United States, with an average of $24,914 for the 2019/20 school year. In the 2017/2018 school year, the IIE reported only 14,132 Filipino students officially in international higher education programs abroad, with Australia and the United States being the top choices. 

For many of the the 5.3 million higher education students who, according to the IIE, were studying internationally in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it hardships in areas ranging from finances to mental health. This has included challenges for both the individuals studying abroad as well as academic institutions whose finances were hit as full tuition paying international students declined. 

Indeed. Speaking to a virtual audience during the Milken Institute’s 2020 Global Conference, Carol Christ, the Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, stated unequivocally that dependence on travel was the one issue higher education had to resolve in the coming decade.

In one example of the very real impact of closed borders, impacted higher education students unable to get back into China – as that nation has prioritized visiting business people over returning students – have even taken to a social media campaign using hashtags, #TakeUsBacktoChina and #TakeUsBackToSchool.  

There can be no full substitute for studying overseas in person via going online. This is particularly true when it comes to laboratory or field work, or medical residency programs. The reality is that the lived experience of cross-cultural, in-person education and the understanding it fosters can never be replaced by a Zoom webinar or a Skype call.

So, what can be learned from home now, even as we and others push for the eventual reopening of borders to students from the Philippines and elsewhere?

Fortunately, traveling and studying abroad are not the only ways to acquire the core skills and open minds associated with international education. Students, institutions, businesses, and policymakers can all play a role in advocating for global education and fostering the right environments for intercultural learning even when travel restrictions and costs limit the opportunities to “go global.”  

Just as technology has helped transform shopping and health care through e-commerce and telemedicine, respectively, so too have technological advances allowed learning and cultural institutions to expand their reach and impact. Museums, universities, and institutions should continue to explore cross-border outreach efforts. 

International education is also about acquiring the empathy, open-mindedness, and emotional intelligence necessary for dialogue across differences. A range of organizations can again offer guidance and resources virtually.

As the US celebrates February as Black History Month, one example is the array of helpful digital materials provided by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington DC to help inform discussions on race. Similarly, the online offerings of the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative build on its commitment to challenge racial and economic injustice. 

Filipino institutions also should think through how technology can also help non-Filipinos better understand the dynamism, history, and challenges that also shape the Philippines. 

Studying abroad has also often been a chance to immerse oneself in a new language. A second language can be a valuable tool for understanding another culture. Online learning options have emerged as virtual substitutes, albeit certainly not as compelling as ordering a bowl of noodles while trying out a local language in Southeast Asia or Mandarin Chinese or the local dialect in China.

Here, mobile apps also have made picking up a new language a little easier. Platforms such as Duolingo offer gamified language learning, and Busuu even gives learners feedback from native speakers.

But students are not the only ones responsible for developing a global mindset. Academic institutions and businesses, along with governments, can play a key role in ensuring that students have access to the necessary support. An enduring digital divide must be addressed to ensure all have access to education both during and after the age of COVID-19.

Global universities like New York University in Abu Dhabi and George Mason University Korea have stepped up to coordinate community funds for students and staff who were affected by the pandemic.

COVID-19 has also left a mental health crisis in its wake, and many institutions have recognized the toll that pandemic uncertainty and social isolation has had on students. To spur philanthropic efforts and advance lessons learned, the Center for Strategic Philanthropy at the Milken Institute has been working with key philanthropists and stakeholders to understand how to further support students’ social and emotional well-being.

Beyond an important, understandable focus on quality higher education, business leaders and policymakers also have an important role to play in pushing for access to education. This remains a longstanding challenge in the Philippines and across developing Asia.

COVID-19 has made all too clear the numerous long-standing inequalities in education access, and many countries are seeking to innovate to bridge this digital divide.

Teachers and students in Indonesia, for example, may draw on internet subsidies from the government, as well as free internet packages from companies including Telkomsel to facilitate their education. Similar strategies can be used to fill hardware gaps. For example, Singapore’s Ministry of Education has loaned out laptops and tablets to students in need.

The challenge today is not to propose permanent alternatives to global education while governments work to ensure health and safety as well as re-opened borders. Governments that have chosen to suspend student visas should err on the side of greater communication and compassion to students whose lives and education have been interrupted by travel bans.

In Asia and elsewhere, our shared goal is to identify and scale up sustainable and resilient ways for our nations’ youth to develop and maintain a global outlook from home, even as international student mobility gradually recovers during the next 5 years. Such strategies will be especially useful as we move toward alternative financial and residential models for higher education.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” Nelson Mandela famously said. “The power of education extends beyond the development of skills we need for economic success. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation.”

Across every sector of society — public, private, and not-for-profit — we all have a role to play in ensuring we do not lose any momentum in advancing higher education quality, broader perspectives, and shared community at home despite a pandemic that has curtailed travel and study abroad. – Rappler.com

Curtis S. Chin, a former US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is the inaugural Asia Fellow of the Milken Institute. Athena Thomas, a recent graduate of New York University Abu Dhabi, works on Policy & Programs at the Milken Institute Asia Center in Singapore. Follow Curtis on Twitter at @CurtisSChin.