Australian High Commission in India has clarified that the recent refusals of study visa applications of students with Punjab School Education Board qualification were due to concerns about non-genuine results.
The department of immigration and border protection has said that class 12 qualification from the PSEB has never been recognised as Australian year 12 results, and there was no recent change to that guideline.
Responding to a query by, a spokesperson for the Australian HC said," whilst it is the case that State education board examination results are listed as not necessarily equivalent to year 12, our concern remains primarily that some results have been found to be non-genuine or not reflective of a client's academic ability."
Several applicants who have passed class 12 from state education board in Punjab have had their visa applications rejected. In some cases, the visa officer has recorded in the refusal letter that the DIBP does not consider Class 12 from PSEB equivalent to the Australian year 12 results.
However, the DIBP clarified later that a qualification from the Punjab State Education Board was not a reason for refusal on its own.
Source: Supplied
The department has also clarified that there have not been any recent changes to the Genuine Temporary Entrant requirement.
Sukant Trivedi, an overseas education consultant says that although study visa applications of PSEB qualified applicants have been rejected earlier for various reasons but it was never communicated by the department in the refusal letter.
However, some educational establishments in Australia have embargoed Punjab School Education Board. RMIT University does not accept class 12 qualification from PSEB for graduate courses.
Under the heading "Conversion of RMIT's academic entrance requirements from Australian standards to the equivalent in India", it's clearly mentioned on its website that qualifications from "State Boards of Education (Higher Secondary Certificate, HSC)" from India, "excluding Punjab School Education Board" are accepted.
Source: RIMT, RMIT University
When contacted by SBS Punjabi, a spokesperson for RMIT University refused to comment.
Even as the DIBP and the Australian high commission in New Delhi have tried to clarify their position on the issue, questions still linger on the future of students with PSEB qualification.
