While Australia has been making strides in strengthening its educational ties with India and its growing number of prospective students, a recent report has revealed that some universities are looking to place restrictions or completely ban students from select Indian states.
According to the report, at least five Australian universities have placed restrictions or bans on students from some Indian states as a rise in fraudulent applications, where the individual is actually seeking work prospects rather than studying in the country.
Reports further highlighted the expected rise, in fact, the largest annual intake of Indian students in Australia, surpassing 2019 enrolment numbers which were calculated to be around 75,000. However, this surge in numbers has also raised concerns among lawmakers and the education sector regarding the “integrity of the Australian immigration system and long-term impact on the international education market”, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
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Jon Chew from Navitas, a global education firm, commented saying that the volume of students arriving in Australia was “stronger than anyone expected”. He acknowledged the pent-up demand for Australian education, however, the surge has caused a rise in the number of “non-genuine students” as well.
The Australian media reported that the universities have set in place restrictions to pre-empt their “risk rating” being downgraded. They added that the universities have received several applications that the universities deemed ineligible for Australian visas since these applications failed to present themselves as “genuine temporary entrant”, travelling to the country for the sole purpose of accessing education, the report added.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age conducted an investigation, where emails from within Torrens University, Edith Cowan University, Victoria University, the University of Wollongong, along with Southern Cross University agents proved the crackdown on applications from Indian students.
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The major concern raised by the Australian universities is that they worry the Home Affairs will curb “their ability to fast-track student visas because of the number of applicants who are actually seeking to work – not study – in Australia.”
Among these universities, in February, Perth’s Edith Cowan University banned applications from Punjab and Haryana, whereas, Victoria University introduced restrictions on applications from 8 Indian states, that included Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
The University of Wollongong also introduced conditions for “genuine temporary entrant” tests that would determine whether an applicant from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Mongolia and other countries that have been deemed a risk by the Department of Home Affairs of non-genuine temporary entrants.
In a statement by Torrens University, a spokeswoman also highlighted the university’s steps in ensuring a thorough and rigorous examination of the place of origin of the applications. They added that they were only considering “very strong” applications from Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat.
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Source: The Indian Express
