international education
campusreview.com.au
how the two countries can collaborate on
research and development initiatives.
Window of opportunity
The benefits and challenges
of attracting Indian
students to Australia.
By Gauri Kohli
The COVID-19 travel restrictions on
China, which started in Australia on
February 1, have put a lot of pressure
on Australia’s university system, which relies
heavily on Chinese students to sustain both
world-class teaching and research.
With Chinese students away, Australia’s
universities have stepped up efforts to
boost their international student numbers.
This was evident when Australia’s minister
for trade, tourism and investment, Simon
Birmingham, led a delegation to India in
the last week of February to deliver the
message that Australia is open for business
and continues to be a great place to visit
and study.
The 31-member team on higher
education included academics from
Australian universities such as the University
of Canberra, University of Queensland,
James Cook University and Flinders
University, as well as the country’s trade
commissioner and government officials.
The visit happened at a time when
Australia extended its COVID-19 ban on
travel from China into its fourth week.
They explored opportunities for faculty
and student exchanges, ways to attract
more Indians to pursue higher studies and
HUGE EDUCATION MARKET
India was Australia’s second largest
source market for international students
in 2019, with about 144,00 enrolments,
behind China’s 261,000, according to the
latest data from Australia’s Department
of Education, Skills and Employment.
However, although India is a key growth
market for education exports for Australia,
there is uncertainty over how the student
numbers from India can be strengthened
with stricter travel restrictions now in place
for both countries.
Academics are hoping that things
improve soon.
The number of Indian enrolments in
Australian institutions rose by 34 per cent
in 2019 from the previous year. Enrolments
of Chinese students are likely to drop
drastically in 2020 due to the impact of the
COVID-19 outbreak.
This means that Australian universities
will now turn to the second largest
international student base, which is India.
But can attracting Indian students negate
or at least mitigate the loss of revenue for
Australia’s higher education institutions?
While 28 per cent of international
students in Australia were from China until
January 2020, 17 per cent were from India,
department figures show.
Overall in 2019, Chinese students
accounted for 37.3 per cent of enrolments
in Australian universities, with India at 20.5
per cent.
However, when it comes to enrolments,
China’s growth was just 2.3 per cent in
2019 over the previous year, compared
to 34 per cent growth in enrolments for
Indian students in Australian universities.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
There are, however, challenges to be
tackled if Australia wants to attract
more Indian students to its campuses.
Indian students form the second largest
international student group in most
countries, which includes the US and the
UK. A few months ago, the UK government
announced that it will offer two-year post
study visas to Indians, which is the same as
what Australia offers.
This would mean greater competition
for Australian universities. The Australian
government recently called India, Nepal
and Pakistan “high-risk” nations for
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