Politics with Michelle Grattan: Phil Honeywood on the challenges of getting international students back
Michelle Grattan speaks with Phil Honeywood CEO of the International Education Association of Australia about the impact of COVID-19 on Australian universities
Events have overtaken state plans for limited numbers of international students to return. With NSW dropping quarantine for fully vaccinated arrivals, flight capacity is the final obstacle.
Indian students in Australia haven’t had the experience they hoped and paid for. Campuses closed, they lost work and they watched helplessly from afar as COVID-19 ravaged their home country.
A draft strategy for the English-language teaching sector released in 2020 was put on hold. In revisiting the strategy, we emphasise the advantages that Australia’s multilingualism offers learners.
Financial strain exacerbated by the pandemic could be driving increased student sex work, whether through apps like OnlyFans or other platforms and avenues.
(AP Photo/Tali Arbel)
Universities must move swiftly to attend to students’ needs when borders reopen if Australia is to regain market share in the face of fierce global competition.
Revenue fell by more than $2 billion in 2020 – less than feared – but universities are increasingly vulnerable to worsening conditions, with losses of international students accelerating.
Many universities overseas have already made vaccination a condition of being allowed on campus. There are precedents for this policy, which is based on strong public health and economic grounds.
International student demand for places in Australia has fallen by a third over the course of the pandemic, while for our key competitors demand has remained stable or even increased.
With ideological issues such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, lecturers told of how a vocal minority of international Chinese students are attempting to police teaching materials and class discussions.
A new report has found students and academics critical of China’s Communist Party are being harassed and intimidated by supporters of Beijing. Universities must do more to protect academic freedom.
Managing academic expectations, culture shock, language barriers and financial constraints amid concerns about viral safety are some of the intersecting stressors faced by international students.
(Shutterstock)
International students are a vulnerable population who have faced many stressors in the COVID-19 pandemic. Emotional intelligence can help navigate these.
About half of New Zealand’s Māori, Pasifika and Asian populations reported experiencing more racism and discrimination since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to about a third of European New Zealanders.
The budget splashed out extra money for almost every sector deemed important to economic recovery (or politically sensitive). But with universities in a state of financial crisis, they missed out.
Once seen as mainly as a source of international students, China has for a decade been strategically repositioning itself as a provider of international education.
International students have been admirably persistent in studying online for more than a year. But as other countries open their doors, Australia risks losing them if it fails to show they are wanted.
Our current quarantine capacity would take six months to handle the return of 150,000 existing students, but 70,000 new students every six months would also be needed to halt the fall in enrolments.
