international education campusreview. com. au
Australia’ s global standing
Australia has a mixed report card when it comes to its achievements in international education.
By Phil Honeywood
Brazil will soon play host to a meeting of international education associations from around the globe to debate challenges currently impacting on the international education sector. In the crucial area of overseas student service delivery, Australia’ s coordinated governance model is already the envy of most. Conversely, many of the issues on the agenda involve policy initiatives that we have either chosen not to take up or are very late to the game in implementing. Going forward, it will be important that we give priority to at least some of these initiatives – particularly if we want to realise the holistic benefits that international education can bring to students, institutions and the broader community.
REFUGEE‘ SHADOW STUDENTS’ In the recent German elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel went close to losing power. One of the contributing factors was her policy of admitting one million refugees into her country. What is less understood is that many universities in Germany, and other European countries, also initiated their own policies of providing‘ virtual student cards’ to refugees wanting to access education opportunities. Although not fully enrolled until their citizenship status could be confirmed, such students were issued with a library card, encouraged to attend lectures and in some cases had their essays marked by their teachers.
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