Three colleges forbid travel to China
Now that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tightened its travel advice, students and teachers are also being told not to travel to China for study or work. Three universities of applied sciences have now imposed a travel ban.
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Due to strict measures in China to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, the ministry declared code red on Thursday for travel to Wuhan and Hubei province. Code orange applies to the rest of China: only travel there “if necessary”.
Many colleges and universities have adapted their travel advice to students and employees accordingly. Maastricht University, for example, gives the urgent advice not to go to Wuhan / Hubei and only travel to other parts of China if absolutely necessary. Erasmus University and the University of Twente have also tightened up their travel advice, as has Fontys in higher professional education.
Travel ban
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences is taking it a step further and has issued a travel ban for all of China for its students and employees. Why? “We do not consider it responsible for students or employees to travel to China,” writes the spokesperson for the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. “Their safety comes first. An additional argument is that we want to prevent students and staff from 'getting stuck' or getting into a situation where a complicated repatriation issue arises with all the associated uncertainties.
We want to prevent students and staff from getting 'stuck' or ending up in a situation where a complicated repatriation issue arises
'We want to prevent students and staff from 'getting stuck' or ending up in a situation where a complicated repatriation issue arises with all the associated uncertainties'
“Study, internship or work-related activities abroad require formal approval from the university college,” she continues. "Due to the declaration of the exit ban to China, it has been formally withdrawn for this country until further notice."
The Hogeschool van Arnhem and Nijmegen also just announced that it no longer gives permission for study trips and internships in China. The same now applies to Avans University of Applied Sciences.
On Wednesday, the colleges and universities were even less concerned, although they kept a close eye on the news about the corona virus.
