Coronavirus: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology cancels student exchange programmes, citing uncertainty overseas even by September

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has cancelled its student exchange programmes in the first half of the next academic year with the world in the grip of the coronavirus.

In an email to students on Monday, the university said it had made the “difficult decision” to suspend all undergraduate exchange programmes for the semester between September and December, as students who were previously granted offers would have had these withdrawn.

“Universities and students around the world are facing exceptional challenges with the running of student exchange programmes,” the university’s Office of Global Learning said.

The university, located in Clear Water Bay with about 230 exchange partners in 36 countries, said many students who went on exchange programmes during the current spring term had been scrambling to return to Hong Kong after their programmes were cut short.

“Cities are locked down, students recalled due to travel advisories, or inability to travel due to suddenly imposed restrictions. In addition to students’ disappointment, their academic progression was severely impacted,” the email read.

“Moreover, travel insurance is unlikely to cover your financial loss from trip cancellations as a result of this situation. We do not wish for this to occur to you ... We cannot rule out that Covid-19 will still be lingering and affecting university campuses in six months’ time, so we feel it necessary to communicate this decision to you now.”

HKUST did not provide the total number of affected students when contacted by the Post.

Universities in Hong Kong had previously suspended some of the current semester’s exchange programmes amid the months-long anti-government protests. With authorities imposing a red travel alert for trips to all foreign countries last month, most outbound exchange programmes for the spring term have also been suspended.

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The University of Hong Kong, City University, Polytechnic University, Education University and Lingnan University said they would continue to monitor the situation closely and review further arrangements for their exchange programmes in the fall accordingly. The city’s two other publicly-funded universities did not reply by press time.

Jeremy Tsang, a second-year student at HKUST who was originally set to go on an exchange programme in September to Germany, said the university’s decision to cancel the programmes was understandable but disappointing.

“I was hoping to see the world, try living independently and experience the different cultures of another country. It's a great disappointment for me that these plans will not be realised,” Tsang said.

“Still, I think it’s necessary to cancel the exchange programmes, since a lot of such students would be heading to the United States or Europe, and it is hard to say for sure whether the situation there can be fully contained by September.”

He added that he felt the university could offer students better contingency plans, as they would now have to reapply for the exchange programmes next spring.