The path to safety

Updated on: Monday, November 09, 2009

In the light of the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia, the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI), a self-regulatory body of education agents and an initiative of Australian Education International (AEI), is working closely with both the Indian and Australian governments to help Indian students in Australia on all possible fronts. The association is actively involved in ensuring the safety of Indian students studying in Australia, and has developed an ‘8 point Action Plan’ to address the challenges faced by them. The association is also taking steps to ensure that only genuine students go to Australia and to eliminate education agents who are indulging in fraudulent activities and misguiding students.
Said Gulshan Kumar Pathania, President, AAERI, “Australia is the second largest market for Indian students who pursue overseas education, and every year this number has been growing exponentially. In 2008 itself, over 40,000 students went to Australia from India. In order to maintain this growth and reinforce Australia’s standing as a high quality education destination, AAERI has been lobbying strongly with the Australian government to take strict action against the offenders. We are working very closely with the Indian and Australian governments to weed out any issues that concern the security of Indian students in Australia.”

The Action Plan includes following steps:

1 Working closely with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Australia Education International and the Australian High Commissioner on modules which will serve as guiding principles for Indian students planning to study in Australia.
2 Feeding intelligence on fraudulent practices of agents to the Australian government bodies.
3 Strongly advocating for interviews of students opting for vocational courses and having stringent checks for eVisa lodgements.
4 Strengthening AAERI’s disciplinary committee and working closely with authorities in India and Australia to act on substantiated complaints from students immediately.
5 Working closely with the Indian community in Australia to understand the situation on the ground and their concerns.
6 Conducting visa training workshops for AAERI members across India. These workshops will be held in conjunction with DIAC to enable agents to help students during the entire visa processing stage.
7 Undertaking regular exhaustive audits of the AAERI ‘Code of Ethics’ followed by all 160 members and keep improving ‘Entry Norms’ for new members.
8 Encouraging AAERI members to assume greater responsibility in case of conflict of interest between students/education providers.
Added Pathania, “AAERI aims to guide and protect over 50,000 students from India who are expected to opt for higher education in Australia this year.” Let’s hope these measures finally work

The path to safety

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