University of Tasmania to Provide $500,000 for International Students

During the pandemic, there are many problems faced by international students at the University of Tasmania. To tackle the issues and ease the students a bit, the University of Tasmania has decided to give $500,000 as financial support. This support is given to around 2000 students. 

The Reason for the Support 

Many students made several requests for financial support during this time. The university decided to give out help to international students. 

 The executive director of student experience said that they had been continuously receiving applications from the students. Amongst the students sending the applications, 85 percent were international students. 

 The support that is available for the students from the university is available at the website as utas.edu.au/alerts/coronavirus-update/students.

International students cannot get the wage subsidy by Centrelink or job keeper. Thus, many international students are facing problems when they have to buy food or pay their rents. 

The Comments of the Students for the Support

A student named Phirriyalatha said that the university should aid the students by giving them a stipend during the coronavirus pandemic. She said that support could be provided either by the university or the government.

She said that the stipend should be for the current students. Since they need the support to carry on their studies with support from the university or the government, she insisted on focusing the international students rather than providing scholarships for the new students. 

 Some students thanked the government for support schemes. One stated that he thanked the organizations such as UTAS and the government for assisting these students during the pandemic. 

He further added that the support let the international students have hopes to come out of the problems they are having. 

One said that the university should focus on the students already studying there rather than offering new scholarships for the new students. He commented that the problem could be solved by giving a living stipend to the university students currently enrolled. 

What the Team at the University Thinks? 

Ms Taylor said that there had been a team established to work for the COVID 19 support. This team looks into the problems of the students and has a case by case approach to aid the students in tackling the challenges. 

 She further added that the time everyone is facing right now is challenging. It is more difficult for international students who have come here far from their homes and families to study. 

 She promised that the university is making arrangements to bring well-being and financial support for the international students during this coronavirus outburst. 

 The University of Tasmania and the government are working together to help the students so that they can easily survive this critical time. The student support team of the University of Tasmania is working to bring support in action. This is to help the students can be relaxed and focus on their studies.