Petition For International Students at University of Debrecen to be Able to Travel Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic Without Fear of Penalty To Their Academic Study

Dear Dr. Mátyus,

We kindly request your understanding in giving the International Students at University of Debrecen the ability to travel home during the COVID-19 pandemic without fear of penalty to their academic study.

International students should be able to return home to their families during the pandemic without being penalized.

This means:

• The university will do everything in its power to make sure that it will make arrangements for those students who travelled home to complete their exams and year of academic study upon their return. 
• The university will commit to a minimum amount of time for distance learning so that all students will have peace of mind to continue their studies and know where they stand for a definite amount of time (even if this is to be extended closer to the time). This way they can resume studying free of additional stress for a given period. 
• In the case that a travel ban is not lifted from the country where a given student is located, and classes in Debrecen resume as normal, international students will be allowed to continue their distance learning from their home countries until the first available and reasonable flight back to Debrecen, or form their homes in Debrecen if they are in self-quarantine.
• In the case that a travel ban is not lifted from the country where a given student is located, and an exam period in Debrecen resumes as normal, arrangements will be made so that those students will be given the opportunity to complete their exams and their academic year.
• The university will give students sufficient time to return or make their arrangement to be back in Hungary before exams re-commence (should quarantine still be required) in order that we are not penalized. Should classes resume before they are able to get back they will be able to catch up this work online.

We ask that the university properly considers once again the following solutions:

• Alternative types of assessments for certain subjects, such as assignments, essays, presentations, phone/video oral presentations. (Naturally for examinations that can only be performed practically this may not be an option)
• A deeper investigation into online examinations: there are companies who specialise in monitoring exams and securing exams from cheating, such as proctoru.com please look carefully into these options.
• Alowing exams to take place as usual after students have returned to Debrecen
• The possibility of delaying the semester or exams until the summer.
• Look into other options and communicate with us with transparenly

These are extraordinary times, and they call for extraordinary measures.

Should this not be possible we request a detailed explanation why these suggestions may not be suitable.

We deserve the right to feel safe and be with our families during this time. We are responsible people who have left our home countries to study here, and we intend to commit from our end to the necessary study, so that we can arrive at final exams prepared

Signed

International Students    Contact the author of the petition