COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges for universities all around the world to find ways for their international students to return to class. Caught on the wrong side of closed borders, travel restrictions, and myriad pandemic-related protocols – students all over the globe have found themselves stranded in these uncertain times.
For AIT, an international postgraduate institute that annually welcomes almost 70% of its student body from countries outside of Thailand, this situation was all too real as the Fall Semester took hold in August 2020. Half of the institute’s 400-plus incoming class was marooned abroad and many continuing students who returned to their countries could not come back to Thailand. Although the hybrid instruction mode was working very well, with students in Thailand attending their classes in-person together with those attending virtually from overseas, AIT continually tried to find a way to get our overseas students back to their “home away from home” residential campus in a safe manner.
Meanwhile, as Thailand experienced success in controlling local transmissions of COVID-19 and gradually opened up, the government continued with its 14-day quarantine requirement, setting up State Quarantine and Alternative State Quarantine facilities. The first is for Thai Nationals, and the second are actually hotels which charged a sum which is difficult for our students to afford. Another type of quarantine facility devised by the government was called Organizational Quarantine or “OQ”, and AIT applied for and received approval at the end of August from the Thai Government to operate an OQ—after a rigorous process. This designation required AIT to have a medical partner, and Thammasat University Hospital agreed to be such a partner. AIT’s OQ allows AIT itself to host its students for their prescribed 14-day quarantine period on campus, at three special dormitory buildings safely barricaded.
In his regular communication with the AIT community, President Woon repeatedly stressed that public safety was the paramount concern throughout the OQ development process. Moreover, the president has reiterated that AIT had a responsibility to make it as easy as possible for all our overseas AIT students to obtain their studies on campus in a safe and affordable way. This principle was supported by the AIT Board of Trustees.
“As I have always stressed since COVID-19 hit Thailand in January, keeping the campus safe and free of this coronavirus is a top priority for AIT. This has not changed, and it is due to the recognition by the Thai Government of our vigilance and strict attention to precautionary measures that the Government made AIT the first university in Thailand to house an OQ facility. The meticulous OQ application process was reviewed by various agencies of the Thai Government, and we follow this process rigorously to make sure the students and the whole community are safe. The Thai Government oversees our OQ operation, from how the AIT OQ staff is protected, down to the size of daily intake. Thammasat University Hospital plays a critical role as any OQ student who tested positive are immediately taken by its ambulance to the Hospital,” President Woon said.
The first AIT OQ student-occupants arrived on September 13, and by the end of November, almost 100 students had taken advantage of the AIT OQ for the quarantine. It should be added that AIT takes further precaution by requiring an additional 7-day Self-isolation period at another dormitory after the 14-day mandatory quarantine. More AIT students from abroad are using the facility, and in fact, starting in late November, we also allowed, as a friendly neighborly gesture, a limited number of Thammasat University overseas students into our OQ. But all through, AIT maintains strict vigilance on managing the OQ and ensuring that our students and community are safe.