Highlights
- International student gets his enrolment cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic
- Karan Singh Panwar says studying in Australia is no longer a financially viable option for him
- "I don't think I would ever be able to return to Australia," says Mr Panwar
For the 24-year-old student from New Delhi who arrived in Australia in February this year with a dream of acquiring a foreign degree, the outbreak could not have been more ill-timed.
Itching to start his business program at a prestigious university in Melbourne, Mr Panwar says looking back on the day he attended his first class, he could never have imagined that his first lecture would also be his last one.
Mr Panwar says he attended his first on-campus class on March 16. But just a week later, he was informed by the university that it was switching to remote learning to ensure adherence to the government's social-distancing measures.
"A few days later, on March 22, I received an email from the university saying the entire first semester would be taught online," he says.
This prompted him to book the next available flight home, but he could not travel as all international flights to India were banned, leaving him, together with thousands of other Indian nationals, stranded outside their home country.
He claims he has since been holed-up in a room with no friends or family to support him, as he never got a chance to begin his life here in Australia.
Karan Singh Panwar Source: Supplied
“I was so miserable that I had to opt for counselling sessions which were being offered by the university to get some sort of support. I was under so much stress as I had to shift my accommodation at least three times in the past two months because no one was ready to take in short term tenants,” he says.
But little did he know that his problems had just begun.
Mr Panwar says things got worse when his father who owns a tourism business in New Delhi had to temporarily shut down his operations.
“It’s well-known that travel and tourism was probably the first industry to feel the pinch and would most likely be the last one to come out of the financial crisis.”
Karan says the lack of job prospects in Australia and his dad’s dwindling business led him to his decision to initiate a request for a cancellation of his enrolment.
A snapshot of cancellation of Mr Panwar's enrolment. Source: Supplied
“I decided that in light of the circumstances where my dad’s struggling financially and an obvious lack of job opportunities here at the moment, it would be best to return to India, where I would at least be able to help my family in reviving the business."
Victoria emergency grant too late
Karan, like hundreds of other Indian nationals, is now waiting for the Indian government to send a repatriation flight as he is fast running out of funds which he had brought along to support himself in the initial few months.
“It’s a double whammy for me actually. Now that I have cancelled my enrolment, the Victoria government has announced an emergency grant for the students, but I am no longer eligible for it," he says.
Karan adds that he has spent a large sum of his cash reserve on his travel arrangements.
"I have spent a major chunk of my funds on booking and re-booking my flight tickets. My family is in no position to support me financially. Even if they were, it has become very hard to transfer funds from India due to the ongoing curfew-like lockdown,” he adds.
When asked if he’d ever return to Australia, Mr Panwar says neither he nor his family would now be able to fund his "dream degree."
Karan Singh Panwar Source: Supplied
“I or my family no longer have the means to pay for an expensive foreign degree. I don’t think I would ever be able to return to Australia.
"It seems like I am saying goodbye. I am just counting days when I would be able to return home and start afresh,” he says.
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