Australia has recorded an unprecedented number of international students for 2018, according to new government statistics.
Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham on Wednesday announced Australia’s international student intake has crossed the half a million mark for the year.
There were 509,610 foreign students enrolled in more than 540,000 courses up until February, recording a 12 per cent increase on the same time last year, according to Senator Birmingham.
"We're on track to continue our record-breaking run of growth in international education," he said.
China continued to be the biggest source of international students at 31 per cent while Indian students comprised 12 per cent of the total intake.
Nepal, at 5 per cent, saw a 54 per cent increase in the number of students coming to study in Australia.
The value of the international student market has increased 22 per cent since 2016 and is now worth $32.2 billion a year.
But for an industry which is one of Australia's top exports generating billions of dollars annually, a lot more needs to be done, an international student body has argued.
Arjun Madathil, National Public Relations Officer of Council of International Students, Australia has told SBS Hindi that government policies such as allowing students to work part-time and offering them temporary residence after graduation have helped attract foreign students to Australia - but they need to do more for the other challenges students are facing.
“International students are facing two big challenges at the moment – accommodation and workplace exploitation.
“Most of the students are not aware of the minimum wage and their work rights. Part-time work opportunities in their field of studies are very limited and therefore they tend to do jobs where they are exploited.
“Accommodation is another major issue. Many international students have no place to stay when they arrive in Australia. Some of them have been scammed online and many find accommodation very expensive. So many students thus end up living in sub-par conditions especially in big cities like Melbourne and Sydney,” he says.
He adds, “Government and universities should step up and do more for these international students.”
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