Up to 300 international students to return to SA after Commonwealth approves trial
A plan to bring 300 international students back to South Australia to revive the $2.2bn sector has been given the green light.
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A plan to bring 300 international students back to South Australia has been given the green light.
The Advertiser understands the trial has been approved by the Federal Government after Australia’s cap on international arrivals was lifted from 4000 to 5600, allowing more Australians to come home.
The approval had also hinged on SA’s move to re-open its borders to every state but Victoria.
SA’s trial to bring up to 300 students back to Adelaide via Singapore had been slated to go ahead in September.
But the Federal Government put its decision on ice last month over concerns around the number of Australians stranded overseas, struggling to get home because of the country’s international arrivals cap.
A trial to bring up to 70 international students back from Singapore to Darwin has also been approved.
The students are expected to arrive in the NT by late October.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has previously said the trials would only go ahead if “no international students take the place of Australians returning from overseas”.
He said today states and territories would need to consider the changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and make decisions based on health advice in the design and implementation of any pilots.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said it was “fantastic news” the trial had been given the green light, and hailed Premier Steven Marshall for being “brave politically” on the issue.
“We understand that the flight for returning students could be back before the end of this month,” he said.
He said the flight was likely to include returning Australian citizens, as well as international students.
Australia’s $39bn higher education sector has been concerned it will lose students to Canada and the UK, if it doesn’t show ‘proof of life’ that students can return to Australia this year.
International education is SA’s biggest export and was worth $2.2 billion to the state last year.
The trial has been controversial in SA while Australians have been unable to get home from overseas, or South Australians were unable to come home from interstate.
Mr Marshall said the state government was “still working through the final details”.
“I would love to see our international students come back, especially with this proof of concept,” he said.
“But I agree with the Prime Minister that our number one priority is to bring Australians back as quickly as possible.”
He has previously pushed for the trial given the sector’s economic importance to the state.
“We’re trying to balance two things at the moment, the health concerns but also the economic concerns, and without these international students who make such a contribution to our economy, we are undermining our ability to deliver on that,” Mr Marshall said last month.
The State Government last month said SA was “committed to the student pilot” and was just waiting for the green light from the Commonwealth.
University of South Australia Vice Chancellor David Lloyd welcomed the news that Australia is re-opening to international students.
“These students are a core part of our vibrant society here in Australia, they are contributors to so much more than just the economy,” he said.
“We look forward to welcoming them back after such a long delay and to their resumption of studies with us.”