Formal advice on degree verification for Chinese international students - online learning due to COVID-19
(information as at 30 April 2020)
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, countries including Australia have introduced strict travel restrictions, and moved classes to online delivery – both inside and outside of Australia. Students and education providers are concerned to ensure those qualifications will be verified on return to China.
The Australian Government and Australian institutions continue to work collaboratively with Chinese officials to address these concerns.
• The Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE), through the Australian Embassy in Beijing, has maintained frequent contact with the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) since early February on student safety and qualification verification matters.
• The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) has also had ongoing communications with the CSCSE on this issue and is assisting them to understand Australia’s quality assurance processes with respect to online learning.
• Many Australian universities have also made direct contact with the CSCSE to discuss specific implications for their institutions.
The CSCSE provided formal advice on 3 April 2020 on verifying Chinese student’s foreign degree qualifications where these are obtained partially online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CSCSE is an affiliated agency of the Chinese Ministry of Education that provides official verification services for foreign (overseas) academic qualifications.
The CSCSE’s notice acknowledges and supports the flexible measures institutions have adopted, such as extending registration dates and offering online courses. Importantly, it also confirms that online courses taken due to the inability to attend campus will not influence the verification of foreign qualifications. It has also established a foreign (overseas) academic qualification verification hotline. An unofficial translation of the full text of the notice is below.
A few notes on verification service for foreign degree qualifications of returning students influenced by COVID-19 pandemic
3 April 2020
(unofficial translation of 关于新冠肺炎疫情影响下留学归国人员学位认证工作的几点说明)
Many countries around the world have introduced restrictions on visas and entry amid COVID-19 outbreak, the regular education operations for some foreign institutions have been seriously affected and many Chinese students abroad are not able to continue their studies. The Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) cares for the safety of Chinese students abroad and has been paying close attention to the development during the pandemic outbreak. Here is our response to some of the general concerns raised by students in relation to verification of foreign degree qualifications:
1. During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, some foreign institutions have adopted measures such as extending registration date, offering online courses and introducing flexible arrangement for graduation thesis defence to help Chinese students abroad to complete their studies. The CSCSE would like to express our understanding and support to these actions.
2. Some students cannot return to campus on time and therefore chose to complete parts of their courses online, which resulted in the student not meeting the foreign qualification verification requirement for time spent overseas. This will not influence the students in getting their foreign qualification verified.
3. Under the premise that students actively protect themselves, they should follow their institution’s special arrangement during this special period, retain a copy of relevant announcements made by the institution, overcome the influence of the adverse conditions and fulfil the academic requirements with quality and quantity.
4. In response to the concerns of Chinese students overseas, the CSCSE will publish relevant information during the COVID-19 outbreak period in a timely manner. Please pay attention to our official website (http://cscse.edu.cn). In addition, we have set up a foreign (overseas) academic qualification verification hotline: 010-62677800 and email: renzheng@cscse.edu.cn.