The much-anticipated arrival of international students in Australia has been further deferred after New South Wales registered the highest COVID-19 cases on July 29 and the Greater Sydney region announced a month-long lockdown until at least August 28.
NSW has also paused its pilot plan of welcoming international students to the country in a phased and limited manner in June.
However, the latest lockdown put the plan on hold and put international students looking forward to joining Australian campuses in a state of uncertainty again.
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The country has recorded a drastic decline by more than 100,000 in the overall number of international students enrolled in universities in the last financial year. Now, it is fearing loss of its competitiveness in the sector of international education, as potential students incline towards other countries.
Further, this decline has led to a loss of around $6 billion to Australian economy. While education exports dropped by 21.4%, international student commencements have fallen by almost 20% in 2021, as compared to 2020.
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Alan Tudge, Minister for Education and Youth in Australia said that the country would keep working with states and territories to work on proposals for the return of international students.
However, Tudge added that the first priority now was to control the spread of the Delta variant and it will be NSW premier Gladys Berejiklians responsibility to figure out when to resume the pilot plan.
The plan was paused on July 13.
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This drop has also resulted in lay-offs of staff across many universities in Australia. Among these was La Trobe in Melbourne which dismissed 200 employees after a $165 million fall in revenue.
Even today, Australia continues to be one of the slowest OECD countries in vaccinating its adult population. According to data, the country has managed to vaccinate less than 16% of the countrys population.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also suggested that 80% of its adult population should be vaccinated before considering reopening its border.
