UTAS rejects calls to lower course fees for international students

The University of Tasmania has been accused of failing to financially support struggling international students.

THE University of Tasmania is under fire for not helping to financially support its international students through discounted course fees.

The creator of a change.org petition outlining the concerns says the coronavirus pandemic has left international students such as himself at a disadvantage.

More than 800 students have so far signed the petition.

Originally from Singapore, fourth year student James Gomez Jovian Messiah moved to Tasmania to study law at the university.

But he said he was disappointing by the lack of support he had received since the pandemic hit.

“We cannot access libraries, materials or even have consultations with our professors,” he said.

“For law students like myself, the library is a sacred temple where we spend most of our time.

“My friends in other faculties have reported that they cannot access laboratories and their curriculum consists of writing reports on last semester’s work.”

He said since moving to online courses, the interactive link between professors and students had been absent.

“Although some professors hold their lectures on Zoom, there are those who also tell us to watch last year’s lectures,” he said.

“This means there is no opportunity to clarify doubts.”

He said it was disappointing to experience a lack of financial support from the university.

“Education is seen as a business when it should be more than a mere price tag,” he said.

“It was a hit to our guts to learn that the university, which in many ways has felt the financial doom caused by COVID-19, would deliberately fail to extend that consideration to its students.”

When asked if a discount of fees would be considered, a UTAS spokesperson said in “normal times” support was available for students experiencing financial hardship through payment plans and grants.

“Because of the impact of COVID-19, this year we put in place a special fast-track arrangement because of increased demand, and there has been good uptake of that,” they said.

“Our approach is to tailor support acknowledging that students have very individual needs.”

The spokesperson said the university continued to offer a range of services to support students in their academic endeavours and their wellbeing.