Australia welcomes outcomes of the Intl Student Roundtable

Updated on: Thursday, September 17, 2009

New Delhi: The Australian Government convened an International Student Roundtable to which it invited 31 international students from nineteen countries and five continents, students undertaking vocational education diplomas, bachelor degrees, Masters and Doctorates.

The purpose of the Roundtable, which ran across three days, was to draw on international students' direct experience in Australia to identify the pressing challenges facing international tertiary education; and to develop actions that the Australian and State governments, educational providers and other stakeholders can take to improve international students' educational outcomes and their Australian experience.

Roundtable students welcomed the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face, and to contribute to how governments and education providers can improve international tertiary education.

The Roundtable recognised that a high quality, tertiary, international education sector benefits all - international students, domestic students, the educational providers themselves and broader Australia.

"These benefits come in the form of better educated and worldly students from Australia and overseas, a more diverse, competitive and international education providers, and a nation that is enriched by the presence of a larger, more integrated international student body", the Roundtable concluded.

Personally, students reflected that their educational experiences and their capacity to participate in Australian life were generally positive, and in many cases very positive. They valued their opportunity to live and study in Australia.

Nonetheless, the Roundtable also recognised that there were some pressing challenges that faced international students, which governments and providers should address.

"The number of international students in Australia has grown rapidly over the last decade. While this rapid growth is testament to the innovation and responsiveness of the sector to student needs, it is also the source of many challenges that now confront international students, providers and the Australian community", a press communiqué from the Australian High Commission said.

These challenges were grouped into six major areas:

- Pre-arrival information and visa status
- Quality of education provision
- Access to basic life services
- Social integration in Australia
- Fair treatment
- Cost of education.

Of these, the first three areas were regarded as the greatest challenges to the quality of international students experience in Australia.

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Australia welcomes outcomes of the Intl Student Roundtable

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