Indian students' enrolment likely to decline by 80 pc in Oz

Updated on: Thursday, October 14, 2010

Indian students' enrolment in the Australian universities is likely to decline by 80 per cent in the 2011, a leading Australian academic has warned, against the backdrop of a slew of attacks on the youths from the community.

Melbourne University Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis has said that the higher education across the country, including Victoria where it is the state's biggest export earner, was all set to be dented post attacks on Indian students.

"According to our best sources... the fall in applications from India into Australian tertiary education... are predicting at around 80 per cent, some institutions are reporting up to 90," Davis was quoted as saying by the APP.

"We did have a system where everything was growing. It's no longer true, so we are going to have to go back and look again," he said.

Over 100 incidents of attacks on Indians, including racial, have come to light since May last year in Australia. 21-year-old student Nitin Garg, who was stabbed to death here, was the first victim of such assaults this year.

According to media report, the Monash University was planning to cut staff numbers by over 300 next year as of drastically reduced education international student revenues, said National Tertiary Education Union.

Melbourne University spokesperson said that with a more diverse mix of foreign students, it was "better prepared" to weather the storm.

Davis said Australia was the only country in the world where international student numbers were dropping. "Every other country is seeing an increase in international students," he said.

"We are the only country in the world that is having this sharp fall, which tells you that whatever the factors are that are driving it, they're about what we do in Australia."

If the international student market continues to soften, universities will need to increase pressure of the federal government for more investment, Davis said. He said the consequences of lost income would be felt by Australian students but would not confirm whether fees would rise.

"We would all prefer to see public investment (rather) than further increases in student fees, but it may be that, in the mix of things that get talked about, student fees is part of them," Davis said.

It was mentioned that Prime Minister Julia Gillard had attributed a variety of factors, including the high Australian dollar, some immigration changes and fierce competition in the region to the growing put pressure on enrolments, but the government would continue to promote Australia as a desirable
country to study in.

"We do want to see international students come and study here, so we'll keep working with the Victorian government, with individual universities on international education, but there are a range of factors putting pressure on at this time," Davis said.

He said Australia had never been the first destination of choice for Indian students, but actual or perceived violent attacks had not helped the cause.

"There's no doubt that the climate in India was deeply critical of the way Australians had handled it, and there was also no doubt it was going to affect people's willingness to come here," he said.

"We were already in a market where we weren't necessarily an attractive destination - this ensured that we were not an attractive destination. "It takes a long time to rebuild a reputation... almost overnight we've shown that.

"You only do it through patient diplomacy, you do it through endless delegations, you do it through scholarships, and you have to work very hard with the community at home to make it clear that there are ... really disturbing consequences," he said.

Early this year, the Immigration Department had said that Australia experienced a huge 46 per cent decline in Indians applying for student visas in the country last year.

The total number of student visa applications from around the world also dropped by over 20 per cent.

Indian students' enrolment likely to decline by 80 pc in Oz

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