THE Commission on Higher Education Central Visayas (Ched 7) has started to conduct an online survey of stranded foreign students in the region who may already want to go home to their countries.

This after the Ched National Office announced that it would help tertiary school students who are stranded within and outside the country return to their hometowns amid the coronavirus lockdowns.

Ched 7 Director Maximo Aljibe said foreign students can now fill out the survey forms posted on the websites of the different colleges and universities.

The results will be submitted to the Ched office in Manila which will then contact the different embassies, Aljibe told SunStar Cebu.

The surveys are being coordinated in the different regions of the country by Ched’s Office of Student Development Services (OSDS).

Based on OSDS data, there are more than 3,000 foreign nationals studying in universities and colleges in Region 7. Of the number, around 2,000 are in Cebu City.

Most of the foreign students are Indians and Africans who were unable to leave the country after flights were cancelled at the start of the enhanced community quarantine on March 30, 2020.

“That has been the concern of our foreign students. They have been writing us asking to go home.

They are being assisted and taken care of by their respective HEIs (higher education institutions) and dormitories,” Aljibe said in a mix of Tagalog and English.

Aljibe added that many foreign students had told Ched 7 that their parents have been worried for them due to the current Covid-19 situation.

Aljibe assured that Ched 7 and the schools are in close coordination to ensure the students’ safety.