Plibersek called the current national strategy for international education ‘vague’ and signalled an overhaul of both it and the council overseeing its implementation.
Tehan [also spoke, saying] ‘We want [city] campuses to continue to bring in international students, but we also want to make sure the economic returns that we get from those international students [are] spread more evenly across the nation’.
Full-year 2018 data shows Australian international student numbers increased 11% to reach a record 693,750.
Source: The PIE News
COMMENT: Foreign student numbers are growing at 11% yet Plibersek calls for an ‘overhaul’. Any experienced CEO of a private company would be envious of that growth rate and LEAVE THE POLICY UNCHANGED!
Meanwhile, one of the biggest impediments to foreign students is the cost of accommodation and transport in Sydney and Melbourne.
Plibersek’s brain snap is 180 degrees out of phase with reality:
According to The Guardian:
“Labor to unveil $3.2m plan to get more country students into tertiary education”
By contrast, the Coalition Government’s plan is to…
“… increase the number of foreign students in regional Australia”.
Comment: Encouraging foreign students to go to rural universities has a host of advantages:
- Transport and Accommodation will be cheaper
- Lower costs will attract even more students
- Savings on Infrastructure
- Boosting jobs in regional areas
By contrast, Labor wants to bring more country students into the city, increasing costs and congestion and further depopulating country towns.
The ENTIRE Tertiary education industry was started in the mid-90s by the Howard government. Labor should leave it to the experts.