Costly learning curve for overseas family

WITH annual school fees of about $23,000 a year for their two boys, the Yaacobs faced a constant struggle to make ends meet.

WITH annual school fees of about $23,000 a year for their two boys, Fauzlah and Roslan Yaacob faced a constant struggle to make ends meet. The family had come from Singapore in 2009 so Mr Yaacob could study building and construction at the Gordon Institute of TAFE in Geelong.

But the fees weren't for a fancy private school. The Yaacob family were paying for their children, Farriv, now 15, and Rayyan, now 18, to attend public schools in Melbourne's Werribee.

Now on a bridging visa as they await a decision on permanent residency, with $4900 in unpaid fees and debt collectors knocking on the door, the family has no option but to have Farriv home-schooled. A report released today by the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission says international students such as the Yaacobs are being discriminated against.

As a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the federal government has guaranteed that primary school education should be compulsory and freely available.

Victoria is not alone. Every state in Australia makes international students pay fees for their dependants to attend public school. The VHREOC report says fees of $7370 are charged for primary students in Victorian schools, and $9770 for junior secondary students.

Acting commissioner Karen Toohey said the fees were a huge cost impost on families who may often arrive unaware they will be charged to send their children to school. "There is an aggregated negative effect from policy decisions involving international students," she said.

"We invite them to come here to study but then they are limited in their right to work, to healthcare, to transport concessions and to education for their dependants.

"The net impact of all those restrictions is that it makes Australia less desirable as a destination."

Simon Evans, the pro vice-chancellor (international) at the University of Melbourne, said the issue was significant.

"The fees impair the right to basic education and have the potential to separate families if children must be sent home in order to access education," he said.

Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education from the University of Melbourne, has long campaigned for improving the human rights regime for international students. "On issues such as transport costs and children's school fees, there is no valid reason for discriminating against international students," he said. ". . . such practices are just profit-gouging."

Professor Evans noted glaring inconsistencies in how the policy was applied with the children of research and scholarship students exempted, as were those with significant business and investment interests in the state.

A spokesman for Victorian Education Minister Martin Dixon said the government would consider the report.