Migration Help
25th January 2010, 12:10 AM
By Nikki Wilson-Smith
Posted Fri Jan 22, 2010
Australia is promoted as a country of macadamias, Morrissey and merlot on Federal Government websites attempting to attract international students.
But, recent violent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne have left a sour taste in the mouths of prospective pupils and that impact is being felt in WA.
The Chairman of Perth Education City, Gary Martin, says there has been a drop in demand.
"When students consider coming to Australia, they tend not to distinguish between whether an incident has taken place in the eastern states or whether it's taken place in Western Australia," he said.
From July to October of last year, there was a 28 per cent fall in applications nation-wide for student visas from India, compared with the same period in 2008.
Ripple effect
Demand for Western Australian courses from Indian pupils had been on the rise.
In 2008, 4000 students were enrolled in Murdoch's Perth campus and by 2009 that number had jumped to around 7000.
It's going to be a real challenge for us to continue that level of growth with the incidents that have occurred in the Eastern States," said Mr Martin.
But, the process of applying for a course overseas is a long one and students that have been put off by Melbourne's murders in the last few months will not start to affect student numbers for some time.
"We expect that we wouldn't see the real impact until later in 2011. Incidents that occur now certainly do impact on that longer term," said Mr Martin.
Assaults
There have been no reported attacks on Indian students in WA but there have been several assaults on international pupils.
A 35-year-old student was assaulted and robbed on her way to Curtin University in Bentley last year.
And, there have been more than nine attacks in or near the university in the past two years.
Marketing the positives
Gary Martin said there is a need to continue to portray that Western Australia is a safe place to come and study.
"The real challenge for us is to block the perception that because the eastern states has had a series of incidents, that the same also applies to Western Australia."
One of the strategies of the Federal Government is to post "success stories" from Indian students on their web site, 'Study in Australia'.
Indian student Rajat Taneja writes:
"People are warm and friendly," he said.
"It's a great place to be. Come and join me here!"
For now, institutions are promoting the distance that the Nullarbor puts between study options in WA and their eastern counterparts in the hope students will continue to choose to come to Perth.
Perth Education City represents the five universities in Western Australia.
SOURCE (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/22/2799291.htm)
MH
Posted Fri Jan 22, 2010
Australia is promoted as a country of macadamias, Morrissey and merlot on Federal Government websites attempting to attract international students.
But, recent violent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne have left a sour taste in the mouths of prospective pupils and that impact is being felt in WA.
The Chairman of Perth Education City, Gary Martin, says there has been a drop in demand.
"When students consider coming to Australia, they tend not to distinguish between whether an incident has taken place in the eastern states or whether it's taken place in Western Australia," he said.
From July to October of last year, there was a 28 per cent fall in applications nation-wide for student visas from India, compared with the same period in 2008.
Ripple effect
Demand for Western Australian courses from Indian pupils had been on the rise.
In 2008, 4000 students were enrolled in Murdoch's Perth campus and by 2009 that number had jumped to around 7000.
It's going to be a real challenge for us to continue that level of growth with the incidents that have occurred in the Eastern States," said Mr Martin.
But, the process of applying for a course overseas is a long one and students that have been put off by Melbourne's murders in the last few months will not start to affect student numbers for some time.
"We expect that we wouldn't see the real impact until later in 2011. Incidents that occur now certainly do impact on that longer term," said Mr Martin.
Assaults
There have been no reported attacks on Indian students in WA but there have been several assaults on international pupils.
A 35-year-old student was assaulted and robbed on her way to Curtin University in Bentley last year.
And, there have been more than nine attacks in or near the university in the past two years.
Marketing the positives
Gary Martin said there is a need to continue to portray that Western Australia is a safe place to come and study.
"The real challenge for us is to block the perception that because the eastern states has had a series of incidents, that the same also applies to Western Australia."
One of the strategies of the Federal Government is to post "success stories" from Indian students on their web site, 'Study in Australia'.
Indian student Rajat Taneja writes:
"People are warm and friendly," he said.
"It's a great place to be. Come and join me here!"
For now, institutions are promoting the distance that the Nullarbor puts between study options in WA and their eastern counterparts in the hope students will continue to choose to come to Perth.
Perth Education City represents the five universities in Western Australia.
SOURCE (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/22/2799291.htm)
MH