More Indian students head to Oz varsities, enrolment up 9%

COIMBATORE: The enrolment of

Indian students

in

Australian universities

and other higher educational institutions has increased 9% in 2016, a positive trend after a spell of four years 2009-13 when the numbers dipped. The Australian government, with the help of state police forces, has introduced measures like personalised interaction and apprising students and parents about safety measures.

Data shared by the department of education,

Government of Australia

, shows that the number of Indian students enrolled for higher education in the country in 2007 was 2.94 lakh. Incidents of racist attack on Indian students fuelled a sharp dip in the enrolment of Indian students in Australian universities. In 2010, the

Indian student enrolment

was 4.47 lakh and the numbers kept dipping till 2014.

In March 2016, the Victorian government formulated the

international education sector strategy

. Melbourne continues to be the most preferred location for Indian students, according to the director of international education, sector development & programs, Government of Victoria, Amanda Pickrell.“Business and accounting continues to be the most preferred courses among Indian students. The share of undergraduate students is also growing,“ Pickrell said. The Australian govern ment has taken up safety as one of the important issues for international students. “We have implemented an initiative called community engagement model,“ said local area commander, city of Melbourne, Simon Stevens. “We regularly attend meetings in universities and have a proactive patrolling system. We speak to international students visiting Melbourne for education and speak to them in detail about the things they should do to keep them safe,“ said Stevens.

Victorian police

denied any trends in instances of attacks on Indian students. “In case there is a problem, we urge the students to report it to us. It is important for the students to understand that their visas will not be affected if they report a crime to us,“ Stevens said.

Besides commerce and information technology , courses in sports science and management are also growing in demand. On the other hand, Australia is aiming at partnerships with India for vocational education and training.

Chancellor of Queensland University Peter N Varghese said international collaboration for research in Australian universities is high. “We have global partnerships with uni versities like Harvard and Oxford. The high academic and research performance is the reason why we have five to six universities from Australia among the top universities in world rankings,“ said Varghese. “Compared to the number of universities in the United States or the United Kingdom, Australia's standard is better.Australia has 39 public funded universities,“ he added.

Education in Australia might be expensive as universities highly rely on fee from international students for their funds. A representative in the Australian government said the highest number of scholarships for international students is awarded to Indians