Australian universities peak body praises NSW decision to welcome back international students.
Summary
Canberra is now reviewing the NSW Government reintroduction plan for the International Student, which the Australian Universities highly praise.
The peak body for Australian universities says an NSW government decision to reintroduce international students to the state is agreeable given their “extensive role in cultural and economic life“.
Welcoming International Students
According to Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, Sydney would be ready to welcome 250 international students each fortnight from mid-year, who will be spending their quarantine period in purpose-built student accommodation.
As per the plan, around the time semester, two begins for many NSW universities, within eight weeks would land the primarily international students.
The 3,000 returning Australians arriving in Sydney per week between the COVID-19 pandemic will be combining the arrival of those students in addition.
The plan has been presented to the federal government for evaluation.
“International students will soon be allowed to return to NSW.”
Overcoming the Crisis
According to Catriona Jackson, the Universities Australia chief executive, there are about 50,000 university students currently based outside the country and are learning remotely in the NSW institutions.
“It is agreeable to ascertain progress in NSW, where international students play an outsized role in cultural and economic life,” Ms Jackson said.
According to Zoe Ranganathan, the National Union of scholars president, the battle of financial stress, mental health, and decreased quality of education were gradually progressing among the overseas-based students.
“We are getting more queries from many ashore students this year, most of whom are requesting for any information about when a return to Australia is going to be possible,” Ms Ranganathan said during a statement.
Mr Perrottet said more than 95,000 local jobs were directly supported in 2019 by the NSW education sector, which was worth $14.6 billion.
The Competitive Nations
Annually more than 250,000 international students typically study in NSW. If NSW remains closed, future students could choose other destinations like the US, the UK or Canada.
He said those countries were now aggressively pursuing international students.
“If we do not act fast, students will address other overseas destinations and it could take the world decades to recover,” Mr Perrottet said.
International Students Accommodation
Mr Perrottet said the scholars would be subject to an equivalent NSW Police-overseen quarantine standards as returning Australians in hotels.
As planned, NSW Health will decide the order of treatment for arriving students and direct them to quarantine at approved student accommodation sites regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.
One such site has already been chosen, with more to return.
The students are positively expected to arrive on charter flights, with Mr Perrottet listing Thailand, Nepal, South Korea and China as exit points.
The entire pilot program is going to be university and student-funded.
“India’s diplomat confident travel ban hasn’t turned international students off Australia”.
The Economy
The lack of international students getting onboard in the middle of the pandemic has cost NSW around about $5 billion in total, potentially reaching $11 billion by late 2022.
The Committee for Sydney appreciated the government’s strategy.
“Universities are leading factors of our economy and native jobs. The pandemic has made it more difficult, resulting in thousands of job cuts across our city and state,” deputy chief executive Ehssan Veiszadeh said during a statement.
Conclusion
The state’s universities will prioritize students in disciplines including medicine, science, engineering, teaching, nursing and midwifery, and those students commencing for higher degree research.
