Speak regularly with your in-country staff. They can be working on conversion of inquiries, arranging virtual events, and digital marketing initiatives. See our Recruitment at a Distance webinar and/or guide for additional thoughts, or speak to your Relationship Coordinator at Grok for advice.
To compensate for the problem some students are experiencing in sitting standardized tests, some institutions are beginning to temporarily or permanently accept a broader range of credentials- for example, the Duolingo English Test, InitialView or Vericant interviews, accepting various curriculums etc.
Grok clients have a range of benefits under Community Membership – now’s the time to cash them in. We’ll help you figure out how! One example could be using Concourse, sourcing students with specific credentials who may qualify for entry (or visas) despite not having standardized test scores.
We encourage you to show your recruitment partners that your institution is agile, flexible and willing to support them.
Grok will continue talking to agencies and other recruitment partners, and will help to coordinate and relay information by posting the information in the comments section below.
We will continue to share updates below in the comments…
Some provinces in China have announced the school reopen dates, with more under plan: Qinghai (the week of March 9 to 13 for high school, the week of March 16 to 20 for Junior high schools); Guizhou and Xinjiang(March 16 for G9 and G12 students); Shanxi (March 25 for G12 students only); Tibet (late March for all levels of schools and institutions)
The start of school has been further postponed. In Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Heilongjiang and Guangdong, the local education departments have announced that students should begin e-learning on March 2. Other provinces have not given specific directions on e-learning, but schools should remain closed upon further notice. In Hong Kong, K-12 schools are not allowed to resume until April 20.
China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET), which is supposed to be held in Beijing, Qingdao, Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou from 21-29 March 2020, was officially cancelled by the Organizing Committee.
All TOEFL and GRE tests in mainland China have been suspended through the end of March. ETS is currently working with NEEA to accommodate impacted test takers, including adding test dates in April and May. https://www.ets.org/toefl/important_update/
Australia and New Zealand have extended their travel ban to foreign travellers who have been to mainland China in the past 14 days, to February 24 in New Zealand, and February 23 in Australia. Although foreign travellers may be able to enter via a third country if they have left mainland China for at least 14 days prior arrival.
Spring agent fairs in China held by JJL, EIC, New Oriental have been cancelled, with the plan to host online education fairs. B2B agents like GEA are also reconfiguring their offline workshops online.
Starting from March 16, all people arriving Beijing from overseas are required to go through 14 days quarantine in designated facilities.
Some provinces in China have announced the school reopen dates, with more under plan: Qinghai (the week of March 9 to 13 for high school, the week of March 16 to 20 for Junior high schools); Guizhou and Xinjiang(March 16 for G9 and G12 students); Shanxi (March 25 for G12 students only); Tibet (late March for all levels of schools and institutions)
IIE has released a survey on the effects of COVID-19 on International Students and Study abroad. https://www.iie.org/en/Why-IIE/Announcements/2020/03/IIE-Releases-Survey-on-Effects-of-COVID-19-on-International-Students-and-Study-Abroad
The start of school has been further postponed. In Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Heilongjiang and Guangdong, the local education departments have announced that students should begin e-learning on March 2. Other provinces have not given specific directions on e-learning, but schools should remain closed upon further notice. In Hong Kong, K-12 schools are not allowed to resume until April 20.
Dates for Grok’s virtual high school fairs have now been announced: https://grokglobal.com/grok-virtual-high-school-fairs/
Most agencies in China will remain close till Mar. 1, online training, consultation and seminar have been organized by agencies through own platforms.
China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET), which is supposed to be held in Beijing, Qingdao, Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou from 21-29 March 2020, was officially cancelled by the Organizing Committee.
Australian Government has extended the Chinese travel ban for a further week to February 29, 2020.
All TOEFL and GRE tests in mainland China have been suspended through the end of March. ETS is currently working with NEEA to accommodate impacted test takers, including adding test dates in April and May. https://www.ets.org/toefl/important_update/
All GMAT tests scheduled through Mar. 15 in mainland China have been cancelled. No new appointments are being accepted through the end of March.
https://www.mba.com/articles-and-announcements/announcements/update-on-coronavirus-and-its-impact-on-testing-in-china
Most Chinese HEIs and schools are not likely to open campus before March 1 for the Spring semester.
Australia and New Zealand have extended their travel ban to foreign travellers who have been to mainland China in the past 14 days, to February 24 in New Zealand, and February 23 in Australia. Although foreign travellers may be able to enter via a third country if they have left mainland China for at least 14 days prior arrival.
Spring agent fairs in China held by JJL, EIC, New Oriental have been cancelled, with the plan to host online education fairs. B2B agents like GEA are also reconfiguring their offline workshops online.
Pearson VUE temporarily closed its testing centres (including for PTE Academic tests) in Mainland China until the end of March. https://home.pearsonvue.com/coronovirus-update
IELTS test cancellation in March 2020 in China due to the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (NCP) https://www.chinaielts.org/whats_new/ielts_news/97460.shtml