Back to the Campus Says Chinese Government

Greetings from the Coffee Grounds Cafe, at the Australian National University, on a wet monday morning. According to media reports, the government of China has placed restrictions on its citizens studying online at foreign universities (Australian universities welcome snap decision by China to ban online studies, The Guardian, 29 January 2023). Australia's universities were already preparing for the return of students, so this is not a major difficulty.

While media reports refer to online being "banned", the announcement from China's Ministry of Education, characterise this as a return to previous policy, and there is provision for students who are unable to get to campus. An example given is those who can't get to a Ukraine campus due to war:

1. Announcement on Adjusting the Special Certification Rules for Cross-Border Distance Diploma Certificates During the Epidemic Period, Overseas Study Service Center, China Ministry of Education, January 28, 2023 (Translated)
2. Answers to questions related to the "Announcement on Adjusting the Special Certification Rules for Cross-Border Distance Diploma Certificates During the Epidemic Period", Overseas Study Service Center, China Ministry of Education, January 29, 2023 (Translated)
3. Temporary accreditation of online diplomas to end, Zou Shuo, China Daily, 2023-01-30 

In investigating how Australian universities might offer online learning to international students, I noticed China, in particular, was wary of this (Worthington, 2014). COVID-19 required a softening of attitudes to online learning, in Australia, China, and other countries. There is a wish to get back to "business as usual", however, what was usual, and is that the best for the students, or the community they aim to serve?

Reference

Worthington, T. (2014, August). Chinese and Australian students learning to work together online proposal to expand the New Colombo Plan to the online environment. In 2014 9th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (pp. 164-168). IEEE. URL https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCSE.2014.6926448