Indian student applications fall by 46 per cent

11 Jan 2010, 12:12 pm   -   Source: Caroline Davey SBS
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New figures released by the Immigration Department this month, show the number of Indian students applying last year to come to Australia to study, had dropped by 46 per cent.

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New figures released by the Immigration Department this month, show the number of Indian students applying last year to come to Australia to study, had dropped by 46 per cent.

Your Say: Do you think the recent violent attacks on students were racially motivated?

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Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan says there was an average 22 per cent fall in the number of applications from most overseas countries.

From Nepal, an 85 per cent drop was recorded.

Mr Logan says at the same time, there was an increase in the number of student visa applications knocked back by the department.

Several causes for application drop

He says there are several reasons for fewer applications from international students.

The global financial crisis and an increase in the level of savings required under new student visa rules from $12,000 to $18,000, to cover cost-of-living expenses have both had an impact.

Stronger checks against fraud

According to Logan, the department also deployed teams of fraud experts to a handful of countries – India, Mauritius, Nepal, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Pakistan - to strengthen application integrity checks.

More than half the cases analysed in India, Mr Logan says, contained at least one fraudulent document, with the highest rate of fraud concerning details of their financial support.

“International students on a student visa in Australia are restricted to 20 hours' work a week and it's essential that they have sufficient funds behind them in order to live. They are here for purposes of studying, work is very much a secondary part of the equation. But we found that a high proportion of the current Indian applications in the vocational, education and training or the VET sector, predominantly from two states within India - Gujarat and Punjab - contained fraudulent documentation,” Mr Logan said.

Safety and value key concerns

The national body representing private higher and vocational education and training colleges says there are a number of factors that have contributed to the drop in visa applications from India.
 
Andrew Smith from the Australian Council for Private Education and Training says part of the reason is the damage to Australia’s reputation following acts of violence against Indian students, as well as the closures of some private colleges.

But Smith says the rise in value of the Australian dollar, by 40 to 50 per cent over the past few years, has also meant that Australia has lost some of its competitiveness.
             
“Australia has traditionally had a reputation for being a very safe place to come and get a high quality education at a relatively cheap cost because of the cost of living here. But with the Australian dollar so high, that cost advantage has been significantly reduced,” Mr Smith said.

News of student attacks ‘sensationalised’ in India

The president of the United Indian Association of Australia, Aruna Chandrala says extensive coverage of the attacks on students was sensationalised in the Indian media.

Insight web extra: How were the 2008 student attacks viewed overseas?

She says concern for personal safety was the main reason for the fall in the number of Indians applying for a visa to study in Australia.

But Ms Chandrala says there were also concerns about the operation of some migration agents, private colleges and exploitation by some employers.

“I think the news has been sensationalised in the Indian media, to the extent that students' families didn't want to send their kids to Australia anymore. Some say that law and order issue in Australia also caused some students go back, so that also didn't help much. Also not getting quality of employment, hasn't been provided in Australia, that is another reason,” Ms Chandrala said.

The immigration department's Mr Sandi Logan says in the past, some international students may have seen a student visa as a shortcut to permanent residency.

Under rules set up by the former Howard government, overseas students could apply for permanent residency after they had finished their training, if their qualification was on a government-approved list.

But Mr Logan says the situation has changed.

“At different times, the migration act and legislation and regulations there too, have been framed in order to try and fill critical skills or skills that are in demand. But it has been a mistake for many students to take it as a given or to take it as read, that acquiring or gaining, securing a student visa to study in Australia was an automatic pathway to permanent residency. That's been a message that the minister and the government have been very keen to make clear,” Mr Logan said.

And Mr Sandi Logan says the immigration minister Mr Chris Evans is confident this message to the Indian authorities, both here and in India, is getting through.

Review of international education sector due

Former federal Liberal Bruce Baird is due to deliver his final report to the government next month, on a major overhaul of Australia’s lucrative international education sector.

The Rudd Labor government commissioned the review into Australia’s second most valuable export, following widespread complaints of inadequate student welfare, transport subsidies and regulation of private education and vocational colleges.

The study also came in the wake of a spate of violent attacks against Indian students, mostly in Melbourne.

The student attacks prompted warnings as early as last July that the number of applicants choosing to come to this country to study could drop.






 

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Your Comments

Cutting the corners

anoymous - from Brisbane, 2 years ago

Students coming to Australia must not be allowed to work. They need to come to Australia using their own money to fly here and to maintain themselves. When they finish their studies, they must return to their own countries. If they then wish to apply to return to Australia to work, they can follow the correct procedures applicable to all immigrants. Howard, that loon who ran Australia very badly for 10 years, opened the gates to unwanted student PR applicants. Your local taxi driver??

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