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Australia’s buoyancy
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Australia’s international tertiary sector is proving to be resilient in the face of the global economic crisis.
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Australia’s tertiary education providers saw international student numbers grow by nearly 30 per cent between the 2006/7 and 2007/8 academic years and many report healthy enrolments from traditional and new markets.
Phil Oakley from the Barrier Reef Institute of Tafe in Townsville, QLD, says, “We have grown our [international] enrolments at 70 per cent for the past three years and this looks as if it is continuing, despite the global financial crisis.”
At Wide Bay Institute of Tafe in Hervey Bay, QLD, Braden Graham says that international student numbers have increased by 100 per cent from 30 to 60 over the last 12 months. He adds, “We have introduced new courses over the past 12 months to increase student numbers. [These are attractive for] students intending to study a trade programme with the view of meeting the skills in demand by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.”
Offering courses specifically aimed at students with an eye to gaining residency in Australia in the future is a tactic that has also been adopted by Tafe South Australian International in Adelaide, SA. Peter Calvaresi at the institute says, “We have developed some courses that may lead to graduates obtaining permanent residency if they meet all the criteria, eg. Horticulture and Automotive technology.”
Meanwhile, at the Barrier Reef Institute of Tafe, Oakley explains that they are widening their course provision in order to extend the institute’s relevance to international students. “We are excited to announce that effective early 2010 we will be introducing our own Elicos programmes for international students who may require language support prior to commencement of their main programme,” he says.
Elicos [English] and tertiary education programmes often work side-by-side in individual institutions and Kathryn Rogers at RMIT English Worldwide in Melbourne, VIC, says that their top student nationalities are reflected in RMIT University programmes. “China has grown considerably for us as we are a pathway school [for RMIT University] and the number of Chinese students at our university has increased considerably over the past three years.”
Indian and Chinese students were by far the largest nationalities for the tertiary education sector in the 2007/8 academic year, making up nearly 45 per cent of the total international student body between them. Yet Calvaresi says that while total student numbers have been steady at the institute, “the bad Indian press [regarding a number of attacks on Indian students in Australia] have affected our Indian numbers”.
Olivier Charpenay from the University of Western Australia’s Centre for English Language Teaching in Crawley, WA says that they have noticed some changes among their top student nationalities recently. “There have been some changes in the demography; namely with Japan and Korea decreasing, largely due, I would surmise, to the economic downturn. But the situation is fluid and changes are occurring as I write.” |
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