international education
As international education professionals, our careers are very much based on fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of our global students. Yet how successful have we been as an industry at listening to their collective voices and making room on the podium? Recently, they let us know.
The Council of International Students Australia( CISA) held a three-day conference, together with its 3rd Annual General Meeting, July 8-10 at Sydney Institute of TAFE. Joining the 180 student representatives were many international education officials from institutions and peak bodies, plus federal, state and local government officials, an NSW Government MP and a federal Opposition shadow minister.
This was indeed an appropriate forum for us to hear what international students were saying. After all, CISA has a constituency of almost 500,000.
The conference got under way with two important launches. The first was the Student Welcome Services Online Orientation Program. This initiative is being provided free to education institutions thanks to International Education Association of Australia( IEAA) corporate affiliate Allianz Global Assistance.
There was also a real buzz in the air when the Department of Immigration and Citizenship( DIAC)-sponsored CISA project“ I’ m not Australian, but I have an Australian Story” was launched. It’ s designed to raise awareness about international students’ presence and their positive participation in the Australian community. It can be found at www. cisastories. net. au.
Even as the industry has been urging governments and the media to promote the good news stories of international education, CISA has quietly got on with doing just that.
After“ I’ m Not Australian” came some exposition on the state of international education in this country.
Key points included:
• 25 per cent of Australia’ s students in higher degree by research programs are from overseas.
• DIAC is promoting an Australian social inclusion and diversity strategy.
• The NSW Government is demonstrating strong support for international education through a new statutory authority, StudyNSW.
• The recently established Tuition Protection Service( TPS) has taken a collaborative approach to working with international students who have genuine concerns about their education providers – the nine provider closures TPS has supervised to date have been well managed.
• NSW Police have now incorporated prevention of crime against international students into its corporate plan.
• Shadow minister for universities and research, Senator Brett Mason, endorsed many of the Chaney Review recommendations and explained the Coalition’ s two-way New Colombo Plan policy.
Notwithstanding all of these presentations, the greatest benefit was definitely gained from the panel debates, particularly those with students on stage. Highlights included:
• ASQA and TEQSA commissioners and International Student Advisers Network of Australia president Danielle Hartridge debating the issue of too much regulation in our sector. A key question asked was,“ Are education providers being forced to focus their resources on compliance at the expense of services to students?”
• Kevin Brett from i-graduate reporting on research showing that international students’ current key priorities are career advice, employability skills and work placements. Australian employers want good communication, analytical and interpersonal skills from international job candidates.
This tied in well with a subsequent debate on strategies for English language acquisition and transitioning to the workplace, where the best advocates for good practice were students themselves. New CISA president Thomson Ch’ ng explained how he improved his English by watching question time in Parliament and taking on public speaking and leadership roles. Student Salih Azahrani suggested playing team sports and being proactive in mixing with different cultures in Australia.
Ex-international student Danny Ong challenged pupils to communicate with one another in English and not their native languages.
Throughout the conference, CISA was generous in its acknowledgement of the role the sector plays in supporting students to ensure success and positive experiences. However, it raised the question of how generous we are in including CISA and its constituents in our conferences and forums – not just to pose questions from the floor, but join us on the podium.
Finally, we would like to congratulate CISA’ s newly elected president Ch’ ng. IEAA has enjoyed an excellent working relationship with recent CISA presidents Arfa Noor and Aleem Nizari and their executive committees.
We are delighted the legacy of their hard work will now be taken up by Ch’ ng and his team.
Their efforts inspire all of us who work in the dynamic international education sector to constantly remind ourselves of the priority that must be given to students’ voices.
As Senator Mason said at the conference, international students“ honour and trust Australia with their futures”. n
Helen Zimmerman is the president of IEAA. Phil Honeywood is the executive director.
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www. campusreview. com. au Issue 8 2013 | 13