As the countries begin to open their borders and start accepting international tourists from other countries, accusations for lowering standards just to attract more students are reeling around Australia.
Australia, without a doubt, is single-handedly one of the best island countries to visit. Exotic plantations, majestic wildlife, but lowered education standards just to bewitch students and offer them to work for the country.
What is the accusation against Australia?
It has been both claimed and accused that Australia has been easily accepting every immigrant who is willing to look for work, study, or reside there. According to the Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super, Australian policies and education system have apparently, Mr. Leith van Onselen, Australia is very easy-going when it comes to leading international students into the Australian universities. Since most of the international students tend to reside by the country they completed their graduation from, Australia allows almost everyone to come to their country, work while they are studying, and permanently reside to work and earn.
However, stating an Indian-based education consultant, Gauravdeep Bumrah, has also proclaimed that students who go to international countries to complete their graduation typically decide to settle down and apply for permanent citizenship.
What do the experts have to say?
Gauravdeep Bumrah says, “Most Indian students choose to study abroad, often at the cost of thousands of dollars, because they have a long-term goal of getting permanent residency, be it in Australia, Canada, or the UK. As a result, most students stuck offshore have deferred their studies instead of choosing to complete their degrees online.”
Agreeing to this, Onselen also said that both Sydney and Melbourne have received near about two-thirds of Australia’s population only through immigration, that too between the years of 2004 to 2019. The current population of Melbourne is 1.4 Million, and the current population of Sydney is 1.1 million. The population growth has rapidly increased, and without a doubt, it is all thanks to the Australian policy.
People from all around the world who visited Australia for few years are now its permanent residence. Sydney and Melbourne are the two significant capital cities with better and affordable educational and housing exposure; another way of luring students as if the immigration policy was not enough. But in the end, that is the second sole reason why students from international countries wish to pursue their higher education in Australia.
Why is allowing every tourist a problem?
Some might think getting the chance to study in a popular country like Australia is a dream come true, and why should a person not think that way? Australia is a beautiful country surrounded by the Indian, Pacific, and southern oceans, uncountable exotic plantations, and wildlife. The number of assets Australia holds is numerous, and it is automatically luring students to study and settle down in a beautiful place.
The actual problem begins here; Australian Migrant Policy is not strict about who is entering the country. As claimed by Onselen, the Australian Government and the education system have been trying their level best to lure students worldwide and increase the population along with working hands with the help of Australia’s assets. They are targeting the students to come to Australia, study in an exotic ambiance and settle down. While this happens, Australia is making billions every year and indirectly takes the help of international students to make Australia a better place than it already is.
Things started to catch expert attention when the pandemic caused by Covid-19 had got 17,000 people to lose their jobs in Australia. Not just that, the international students were also found sharing that the food became one of the major struggles. They had no option of getting food if it was not from the university cafeteria, which was, as noted, costly to afford daily.
However, the students somehow survived on cup noodles for both lunch and dinner. The number of students was comparatively very high than that of the food available. The students and recently settled faced a lot of difficulties as there was nothing available to them during the pandemic. A good number of students had lost weight during the pandemic, and a few also confessed to skipping meals just so they could save money for the rest of the days.
Although this became an issue because Australia, just like any other country, was not prepared for what was coming to them, at least, unlike other countries, Australia invites guests all over the world just to one day realize if anything goes wrong, they would not be able to support their guests. Some international students who thought they were lucky enough to get out of Australia were later stuck at the borders, and the rest were stuck at their university domes, skipping meals just to save money for the rest of the year.
The situation makes most of the economists feel anguish against Australia. It further was understood that Australia lowers the education standards to attract the students and cannot support its international students when in need. However, at least 83% of the students from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have dropped the idea of joining Australian universities, which, without a doubt, lowers the number of students and the revenue.
The next step:
The experts have made sure that their concerns and doubts reach the Australian Government, and together they seek out better solutions. Although, as listed, the recommendations of settlement that the experts forwarded are as follows:
- Improve the quality of students
- Balance the number of students
- Improve the quality of teaching methods
- Improve education for the residents
- Increase profit with every student
However, according to Gauravdeep Bumrah, thousands of students are still waiting outside the border just to get into Australian universities for more excellent international learning and experience.
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