International students look to ditch Australia and study elsewhere

Overseas students fed up with waiting to come to Australia to complete their study are now looking at other countries.

Desperate international university students unable to fly into Australia say they are looking at other countries to complete their studies.

While the nation’s international borders remain closed students who are enrolled in courses down under say they’ve virtually given up all hope.

Sara Saki, 30, who lives in Istanbul in Turkey, was due to start her PhD in mechanical engineering at the University in Melbourne in February last year but she still remains stuck overseas.

She is now considering ditching her studies in Australia altogether.

“It’s so frustrating, I absolutely feel like I’m wasting my time,” Ms Saki said.

“I’ve been awarded a scholarship and only high-quality students have been awarded these scholarships and I’ve also been awarded a scholarship in the United States.

“If nothing happens in the next two months I will definitely dump Australia and go to the United States.”

University student Sara Saki is from Turkey and is a prospective PhD student at the University of Melbourne. She is unable to fly to Australia to start her studies because of the border closures.

 

Another student Elham Davoodi, 32, lives in Tehran in Iran and is waiting to travel to Australia with her husband Vahid Chitgar, 38, to do her PhD in psychology at Monash University in Melbourne.

“I’m really confused about what’s going on in Australia regarding international students because I was told Australia was one of the best study destinations,” she said.

“This advice was the big motivation for me to choose this country.

“Every day I get up in the morning and open my tablet and check Twitter to see if things in Australia have changed.”

She said she’s now considering completing her studies in Canada.

Elham Davoodi, 32, is from Iran and is waiting to return to Australia with her husband Vahid Chitgar, to do research studies at Monash University in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied

Nima Rejali, 33, from Isfahan, Iran, is due to start his PhD in mechanical engineering at the Queensland University of Technology but is also unable to fly into Australia.

“I’m applying to the US and for Canada and I never ever recommend any student study in Australia because they don’t care about us,” he said.

“The situation is very hard for every student who has applied for Australia; we are even losing our admission.”

All three students are willing to pay for their hotel quarantine costs and flights to be able to get into Australia safely.

Nima Rejali, 33, from Isfahan, Iran is due to start his PhD at the Queensland University of Technology, in mechanical engineering but is unable to fly into Australia.

Latest figures showed about 1000 international students were given the green light to enter Australia while 40,000 Australians remained stranded overseas.

Figures from the peak university body, Universities Australia, showed more than 140,000 enrolled students were unable to study at Australian campuses after the Federal Government closed the nation’s borders last year.

The also reported 17,3000 jobs were lost in 2020 and an estimated $1.8 billion in revenue compared to 2019.

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said they want to see international students return to Australia but it needs to be “done safely and without impacting Australians who want to return home”.

“If a state or territory government puts forward a proposal that includes quarantine arrangements above and beyond their existing ones and they get the tick off from their chief medical officer then we would look at that,” he said.

But he said despite thousands of students unable to fly into Australia, it remains “a very attractive destination for international students”.

“We have handled the virus and its economic impacts better than anyone, we have great education institutions and we are a friendly and welcoming country,” Mr Tudge said.

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