When international students generate such a high economy for Wales, are they satisfied with their academic life?
International students with dreams come to Wales from all over the world. By higher education experts Viewforth Consulting, found that Welsh universities attracted more than 25,600 students. International students, together with the expenditure of visitors connected to them, generated £530m of export earnings – equivalent to 4% of all Welsh exports.
For being away from home to living alone, after the latest lockdown was announced in the UK, campuses closed, lectures cancelled. When international students generate such a high economic, are international students feeling it’s still all worth it?
So we find some international students in Cardiff. Here we speak to some of those left behind…
Bouthayna Belkacem, Digital Marketing, Morocco
I do feel like I got tricked. The university saying that they’re arranged, they’re doing everything they can so that we can go to a union and stuff like that. Even though they provide wellbeing services and stuff like if you call. You get an appointment like two weeks later or something like that, why would I ask for support if I’m going to get the appointment like two weeks.
Atharva Kshirsagar, Law, India
I have everything online, so it gets hard, being a fresher and doing everything online for the first year. The lecturers seem to give us out some vague information. About how is the course going to be, and like reference to our assessments. They just give out vague information, which is like kind of confusing. So maybe if they could help us understand more about the assessment and assignments for that should be really helpful.
Bhumika Rathod, Physiotherapy, India
And more of a personal life, there is no support at all from the university or anything really to cover for students. There is no support at all, nothing yet. I think we really need to have a personal tutor talk to us or ask our life or something and he sits down with me like, ten minutes, at least once a week, or even like once a month, I’ll be happy, but it’s nothing new.
Marek Duna, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Slovakian
I do engineering, I like to visit with me the way I work. I’m physically been lectures and work in a lab like I was doing a simulated online. And it was not the same. Life is good, it’s just you got to keep it so positive, even though, like I have loads of work to do, I wake up every day. I go for my runs around between ten to fourteen kilometres a day, and I just like to keep myself happy.
Shi Xue, IT management, China
To be honest, it doesn’t feel real until now. The lack of human interaction really makes it hard. And If the university can help us like to get to know our classmates better. So, like ever since I’ve come, so I haven’t really met my classmate. So, I just have one friend in the student accommodation. And apart from that, I just know four people who are doing IT. So maybe if we get to know more people, that would be better.