Browns English Language Schools director Richard Brown begs Prime Minister Scott Morrison for border reopening date
One of the city's largest educator providers is having to "consolidate", with its Gold Coast director revealing every day is a struggle. WHY HE'S AT BREAKING POINT.
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RICHARD Brown says he’s heartbroken at having to “consolidate” his award-winning English language school because the government won’t commit to a date for when overseas students can return.
The director of Browns English Language Schools (Browns ELS) says the continuing uncertainty around when borders will open was “crippling” and affecting his mental health.
“It’s so frustrating, we’ve got no certainty from the federal government around when they will allow international students back,” he said.
“They need to make a firm commitment on a date. Tell us, just tell us. It’s the unknown that’s the worst thing.
“Even if it’s January 2023 at least we will have something to work towards and a date we can tell students when they ask us.”
Instead of offering up a date, the federal government says states and territories must develop their own International Student Arrival Plan. It must then be endorsed at a federal level before implementation.
Initially, these plans prioritise the return of continuing higher education students to complete their qualifications.
This includes final-year students needing to complete practical placements and higher degree research students. Only limited numbers of students, nominated by their education institution, can return under the approved plan.
Before Covid, Browns ELS taught 1000 students across its Gold Coast and Brisbane campuses and employed more than 100 staff.
Many employees had been with the business for a decade, some since it was established by Mr Brown and his sister in 2003.
Since its inception, Browns ELS has taught 35,000 students from 102 different countries and is one of the Gold Coast’s largest education providers.
“It’s been crippling, not just for me but for the whole industry. We’ve been decimated,” he said.
“Having no job security, no job, it’s been awful.”
Mr Brown said without a border opening date for him to work towards, he was having to consolidate. Mental health wise, he said it had been a “struggle”.
“Each day I just try to hustle as hard as I can – it’s heartbreaking,” said the young father.
“It’s been the hardest year of my life.
“Every day I’m just fighting to push on, waiting and hoping we’ll soon get the date we so desperately need.”
Mr Brown said Australia and the Gold Coast were losing international students to places such as Canada and the US that had started a staggered opening of borders.
He took aim at the governments’ failed attempt to eliminate the virus and its “overcautious approach”.
“We have to learn to live with it and do our best to suppress it because elimination is not possible,” he said.
Study Gold Coast chief executive Alfred Slogrove said the situation facing Mr Brown and other educators who relied on overseas students was “absolutely heartbreaking”.
“Yes we will lose market share in the short term, but in the long term it will bounce back stronger than ever now that we’ve put metrics in place as a result of Covid.
“The Gold Coast is still a strong proposition in terms of safety and that will be a huge pull factor for those who value that.”
Mr Slogrove said in terms of study bubbles with other nations, it couldn’t come soon enough for the city.
“What we need is for people to get vaccinated, that’s our ticket out of this.”
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A PLAN to get international students back on the Gold Coast is possible, according to Northern Territory education leaders who have already put a similar scheme into action.
As of November 30th Charles Darwin University (CDU) will be welcoming 73 international students back into the country, for the first-time since international borders closed due to the global pandemic.
The opportunity is one that Gold Coast education leaders are pushing to replicate, in the race to become known as a safe study destination, in a post-pandemic world when that day arrives.
Peak education body Study Gold Coast last month put forward the proposal to return 100 enrolled students to the Glitter Strip by January to shore up 5000 local jobs dependent on the sector. They are still waiting on approval.
CDU’s Deputy Vice Chancellor and VP of Global Strategy & Advancement Andrew Everett said the pilot program in Northern Territory should assist in a similar plan getting over the line in Queensland.
Mr Everett said the territory government supported their proposal to Canberra.
“We were well placed as we are one office and the only university in the Northern Territory so it was streamlined, there weren’t too many voices.
“We also had the Howard Springs facility at our disposal which allows planes to land and passengers to stay on site in quarantine.”
“I know other states will get this off the ground, but the NT has been given the opportunity to do the pilot, easy to work out what we do right and what we get wrong.
“We are hoping to prove that one flight, with five connecting to it can work, with covid testing in place, to get international education running again.”
Mr Everett said other states should be getting ready to follow suit, as the window of opportunity on a corridor was closing fast.
“This has to be a team Australia approach, it might sound corny and trite, but New Zealand and Canada are already opening up and taking some of our students.”
“We need to have an offering there for students to return to.”
A Queensland Government spokesman said the issue of international border control rests with the Federal Government.
“The Queensland Government continues to work with the Federal Government on the recovery of the international education and training sector.”
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THE GOLD Coast education sector is pushing for 100 international students to arrive by January via a pandemic bubble corridor to save some of 5000 sector jobs under threat.
A big drop in international student numbers has seen both private and public education facilities cut staff numbers, with no end in sight.
A Study Gold Coast proposal to safely bring in internationals to restart the economy has been put forward as a test case to the State’s Chief Health Officer.
Mayor Tom Tate said he was supportive of the Gold Coast Study proposal which would ensure a safe transition for international students back into the country.
The ‘Safe Student Corridor’, aims to welcome a group of enrolled students from low-risk countries into the Gold Coast via a quarantine process to reignite the industry.
At this stage no formal commitment has been made by either major party in support of the proposal.
For Brown’s English school teacher Lee Martin, the decimation could mean he needs to find a new career all together.
For five years Mr Martin, 51, has worked as an International English language testing system teacher and is months off completing his masters in linguistics. He hopes to see a commitment to bringing back students, so he can plan for the future.
“Ever since they have closed the border our numbers dropped dramatically,” Mr Martin said. “We are used to teaching 18 to 20 students and are now down to about three.”
Following changes to JobKeeper rules, the reduction in hours means Mr Martin has seen a significant cut in his wage.
“My income has basically cut in half,” the father of two said. “100 students isn’t a huge amount but I’d like to see something happen so we have an idea of where we are headed.
“Something is better than nothing, they say international borders could be closed for the next year which will effectively kill off my career.
“I’m only a little while off graduating with my masters but there isn’t much I can do with my linguistics degree while the industry is shut down.”
Cr Tate said the sector was vital for the Gold Coast's economy.
“For me international students are tourists that just happen to study here and stay longer,” Cr Tate said. “The third party endorsement and recommendations from these students complements the second home strategy where we see parents come visit their child, and end up buying apartments here.
“This sector is vital for the recovery of our economy and I believe this is a sound plan to get them back into our learning institutions.”
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DOCTOR to the stars, Gold Coast’s Dr Bill Anseline is the man behind the COVID safe bubbles allowing some of the biggest names into the state.
Now he is backing plans to get international students back on the Gold Coast.
Director of Hemisphere Management an entertainment health risk and safety management group Dr Anseline said the Gold Coast was well placed as the safe gateway for returning international students.
The ‘Safe Student Corridor’ which was revealed by Study Gold Coast earlier this week, aims to welcome 100 enrolled students from low risk countries as ‘proof of concept’ to reignite the industry.
“The plan is to take students from low-risk countries, and treat it in a quarantine response at a similar, if not superior level, to how were are dealing with international arrivals now,” Dr Anseline said.
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In the last six months he has been behind some of the most rigorous COVID safe protocols for major events like the Jeff Horn and Tim Tszyu fight.
He has since been working behind the scenes with the Gold Coast City Council and Study Gold Coast on the ‘Safe Student Corridor’ which the sector hopes to get over the line by January.
“It is all about people, process, technology and innovation – with the right elements you can ensure the safe movement of these people into country through a quarantine.
“It is about trying to reopen in a safe way. Australia has dodged a bullet and we recognise those in power have had to make some serious decisions. Now we are working on a plan on how to move forward but keep things safe.”
“Jeanette Young and the Queensland Health team did an amazing job to get where we are, now we can keep working with them and city council to get the students here. This is an extrapolation of what we have already done, it is not new.”
EARLIER:
GOLD COAST educators are pitching a major plan to return international students to the state in a move which they say could save 5000 local jobs at risk.
Study Gold Coast and its members are calling for a ‘Safe Student Corridor’ to save the state’s struggling education sector, using the Gold Coast as the gateway for internationals to return.
Under the proposed road map, which has the support of the Gold Coast City Council, the city would be the staging ground to allow 100 international students enrolled on the Gold Coast into the country by January – in a quarantine style response as part of an initial pilot.
Working with Queensland Health the plan aims to minimise risk to other Queensland regions and the rest of Australia as a ‘proof of concept’, once successful it will then broaden the intake into 2021.
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The selection of 100 students are proposed to be taken from low risk COVID-19 transmission countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada and New Zealand.
The plan - outlined to both the State Government and Opposition - will be put forward to the Chief Health Officer this month.
The pitch follows a similar plan from Queensland universities who submitted an outline in July, but have not had a response.
Study Gold Coast CEO Alfred Slogrove said the ‘safe corridor’ was a critical step in saving Queensland’s $5 billion education industry, worth around $1.7 billion locally.
He said the situation was starting to cost jobs with many local providers unlikely to make it into the next year without a “light at the end of the tunnel’’.
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“In my view, while the importance of public health has rightly taken superiority, it is now time for recovery policies to be formulated and delivered,” he said.
“We can recover and ultimately increase our market share by leveraging Queensland’s relatively strong health position to attract international students in a safe way.”
As universities in the Northern Territory have already been approved for similar plans, Mr Slogrove said it is critical Queensland doesn’t miss out.
“If we are slow out of the blocks in this regard we will lose ground to international competitors who are already opening up their international student programs.”
Two of the Gold Coast’s biggest providers Imagine Education and Browns English Language Schools, who are in support of the plan, said they were dependent on the flow of international students.
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Richard Brown director of Browns English School said the business had been decimated by the international border ban.
“We went from 1000 to 200 students, and are heading in a direction that is frightening.
“I think everyone is losing patience, the virus is something we will have to live with so we need plans to manage it.”
Imagine Education CEO Co-Principal Bill Adler, said he was in a similar situation and currently depends on domestic intake.
“Even just a date helps with planing, we are looking at what comes next year, it is an urgent situation,” Mr Alder said.
“A corridor is a smart, safe solution that needs to be executed now.”