Focus on China ‘a risk to universities’ reputation, finances’

Chinese students account for 89 per cent of growth in new Go8 international students between 2012 and 2016.

Bob Birrell: universities have compromised standards to accommodate poor English.

Australia’s Group of Eight universities have hugely increased their reliance on China, with its students accounting for 89 per cent of growth in new Go8 international students between 2012 and 2016.

The high level of dependence on China highlights the uncertainty facing Australia’s research-intensive universities, for whom the growing tension between Aust­ralia and China — highlighted at the weekend’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Papua New Guinea — is a major ­financial risk.

Figures in a new paper publishe­d by independent demo­grapher and former Monash University academic Bob Birrell, show that the University of Sydney tops the list for dependence on Chinese students: 94 per cent of the 2012-2016 growth in international students starting courses comes from China.

“By 2016, Chinese commencers made up 72 per cent of all overseas student commencers at the University of Sydney,’’ says the report, Australia’s Higher Education Overseas Student Industry: in a Precarious State.

Dr Birrell, who formerly headed the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University, then founded the inde­pend­ent Australian Population Research Institute, says in the report that Australian universities’ achievement in building a major export industry is “remarkable” but now faces serious dangers.

He says Group of Eight universities’ high dependence on Chinese student revenue is a risk because universities have compromised standards, particularly in the ­business courses popular with Chin­ese students to compensate for their poor English language standards.

“Examinations focus on mathematical or numerical tasks rather than on an evaluation of the candid­ates’ understanding of business planning or project assessment that requires literary skills,” he says, adding that this makes the Group of Eight universities vulnerable to reputational damage.

 

The report also says Indian stud­ents, whose numbers have grown sharply at non-Group of Eight universities, are likely to be turned off Australia by recent changes to work rules for overseas student graduates and changes to long-stay temporary visas.

It says the Turnbull government’s changes to 457 visas last year have restricted the opportunity for overseas student graduates, particularly those from the subcontinent, to become permanent residents.

“Thousands of former overseas students have been using this pathway each year,” the report says.

It says changes this year to temporar­y skill shortage visas also mean this pathway for inter­national students for permanent residency has been restricted.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson rejected many of the assertions in Dr Birrell’s report.

“If our education is perceived as low-quality, international students would have stopped coming here a long time ago,” she said.

Ms Thomson also rejected Dr Birrell’s claim that universities had dropped their standards, saying that he had not provided any evidence of this.

“There is no new information in this paper. While not everything in the report is incorrect, the conclusions are as selective as they are wrong,” she said.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the report contained misrepresentations: “Far from lowering stand­ards, a competitive and successful international education sector delive­rs quality for all students.’’