Hope for international student return to Victoria in 2021
Victorian universities hope to bring tens of thousands of overseas students back to the state earlier than originally planned, with the government desperate to revive the crippled sector.
Tertiary
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A plan to bring international university students back to Victoria next year is being worked on by the state government.
Education department officials are closely watching Adelaide’s pilot program which will start flying in about 300 international students into South Australia from November. The students will quarantine in hotels for two weeks before attending three universities.
Victoria will hope to bring overseas students by late February for the start of the first academic semester to revive the crippled international education sector which was the state’s biggest industry before the coronavirus hit.
“The Victorian Government is continuing to work with the Commonwealth on a detailed proposal and we look forward to welcoming international students back to Victoria when it is safe to do so,” a spokesman said.
About 120,000 international students remained in Victoria after the pandemic restrictions began. Normally about 230,000 are studying across the state’s campuses.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said Victoria had already lost advantage to South Australia and New South Wales.
“The state government needs to move more quickly to lock in an opportunity for Semester 1 next year.’’
A Swinburne spokeswoman said the university was awaiting restrictions to be lifted to welcome back international students.
“We would welcome any discussions on how international students could come to Swinburne as soon as this can be safely achieved, and are supporting those international students who can continue to learn with Swinburne in their home country.’’
The University of Melbourne was in discussions with the Victorian government and other universities about international students’ return, a spokeswoman said.
International education generated a record $13.7 billion in revenue for the state last year, latest government figures show. Victoria had about one-third of Australian onshore enrolments.
The industry supported almost 79,000 jobs in 2018.
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