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Chinese students warned to bypass Australia and New Zealand .
By Wade Zaglas
A resurgence in Chinese students studying in Australia and New Zealand is unlikely in the near future , with education agents in the world ’ s most populous country reportedly closing their Australia-only desks .
Agents are telling prospective Chinese students to “ hedge their bets ” by applying to other countries , as Australia ’ s borders are likely to remain closed until mid- 2022 , Times Higher Education ( THE ) reported .
The latest analysis by global education chain Navitas shows the UK is now far more appealing to prospective Chinese students than Australia . It also found that “ Chinese agents rate Canberra only slightly ahead of Westminster on coronavirus management , notwithstanding their ‘ high expectations ’ around student safety ,” THE said .
“ This is puzzling given the two countries have had very divergent public health approaches and outcomes during COVID-19 ,” Navitas said .
“ While the UK failed to manage case counts , it is now making up for it with a stellar vaccination programme .”
The latest findings follow the bleak Navitas Agent Perception Report for March 2021 and the release of the Australian
government ’ s federal budget . The budget foreshadowed challenging times ahead for Australia ’ s international student market , with assumptions borders would remain closed until mid-2022 .
However , during a press conference , Prime minister Scott Morrison said the return of international students would become a priority once Australians were vaccinated and could travel .
“ I welcome the fact that universities are stumping up to work with state governments to put … facilities in place to support their students coming back ,” Morrison said . “ We ’ ll look at that very favourably .” Education minister Alan Tudge also said the Australian government was “ working through ” plans developed by several states , but added that roughly 150,000 international students remain offshore , THE reported .
“ Can we get to those sort of numbers in the first half of next year ? I don ’ t know . Our main focus at the moment is … to see if we can get smaller-scale pilots up and running later this year . We ’ re just taking one step at a time ,” Tudge said .
The Navitas March survey of nearly 900 agents made clear that “ Australia and New Zealand will be spectators , not beneficiaries , of a recovery in global student flows in 2021 ”. Indeed , it went on to say that agents “ have all but written off the southern hemisphere ’ s academic year ”, with only 4 per cent believing travel to Australia will be possible in the second half of 2021 .
Australia and New Zealand will be spectators , not beneficiaries , of a recovery in global student flows in 2021 .
“ In contrast , ten times as many agents would consider it almost certain that students would be able to travel to Canada ( 39 per cent ) or the UK ( 45 per cent ),” Navitas said .
“ As for the first half of 2022 , 28 per cent of agents believe travel to either Australia or New Zealand will be ‘ almost certain ’ – much more prospective than 2021 , but much less likely than the UK ( 64 per cent ) or Canada ( 59 per cent ).”
Navitas ’ latest analysis found that education agents are recommending international students begin their studies online and switch to on-campus enrolments once borders are more widely open .
Applying to multiple countries is another recommendation education experts are making , highlighting the “ unpredictability ” facing the sector .
“ Until tuition fees are paid and students arrive on campus , it would be prudent not to assume that [ they ] will continue through the conversion funnel as they have done in previous years ,” Navitas warned . ■
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