The ‘Study Australia Fair’, an annual event to attract Indian students to Australia, will begin in Chandigarh on Monday. Being organised by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Australian Government’s agency for international trade promotion and attracting investment, the fair will also be held in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
Speaking to The Hindu, Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner of Austrade, Monica Kennedy, said about 25 educational institutions across from the country will participate in the fair.
“The visibility of Australia as an education provider is high at the moment. That is the main difference than last year’s fair. We have 25 educational institutions coming in. Australia provides opportunities for prolonged stay and employment opportunities are also high,” Dr. Kennedy said, adding that Australian universities have improved their rankings in the latest QS rankings. “Australia does really well in employability criteria. We help students in developing skills after the education,” she said.
As of June, 98,000 Indian students are studying in Australia. India is Australia’s second largest source of international students. “Australia-India bilateral bond is very strong and the number of students is increasing,” Dr. Kennedy added.
The Austrade is promising that there will be courses in Australian universities in which Australia and India have common interests. “We are offering a lot courses in cyber, future tech, future materials, energy, etc. We have a commitment towards diversified classrooms. We have international classrooms,” she said, adding that individual institutions are providing scholarships for foreign students. “Apart from that, the Australian government is also working on a programme for scholarships for Indian students,” Dr. Kennedy said.
When asked about the Union government’s recent proposal to have campuses of foreign universities in India, she said several Australian universities were keenly anticipating the finalisation of the guidelines that will allow foreign universities to function in India. “We saw the draft. The Department of Education has collected feedback from Australian universities. Australian universities are excited. We have been doing trans-national education for long time. We have campuses of our universities in Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Vietnam. We make rigorous quality education programmes. Australia has a system to protect quality of education. If we open a university in India, students will have an identical level of experience as they study in Australia,” she added.
On reports that foreign students were facing housing problems in Australia, she said that, by and large, universities were managing the issue. “Universities are self-regulating authorities. They are required to take responsibility of the students from foreign countries. Universities are setting up relationships with private accommodation providers, too. There are several housing arrangements for international students,” Dr. Kennedy said.
