The guide to all things International Education |
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Welcome to the eighth edition of The Source - The Lygon Group’s regular newsletter filled with insight and analysis. For detail of what each edition will bring you, visit our first issue of The Source here. In this edition: The Big Picture: Introducing our newest team member Varsha Devi Balakrishnan A Closer Look at China: UK releases report into managing risks from partnering with China in higher education and research China updates vocational majors, pivoting to modern industries Opposition in Hungary to Fudan University’s planned campus in Budapest
In Case you Missed It: What we’re Thinking About: |
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Episode 6: Transnational In episode 6 of The Source Pod, The Lygon Group’s Jeffrey Smart and Angela Lehmann discuss the importance of transnational education for Australia’s international education sector, and the role it will play post-pandemic. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on TNE like never before. Luke Sheehy, Executive Director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, and Rachel Holthouse, former DVC Global at RMIT University, join the conversation. | | |
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Get in touch to talk about how we can help you and your organisation. |
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Are we in danger of becoming the sector that cried wolf? When Australia gets around to announcing a national reopening plan for international students, will they still be listening? News out of Victoria that the government has submitted a plan to the Commonwealth to start bringing international students back to the state has energised the international education sector. Both sides of politics, business and local government are supportive. The Commonwealth government has not yet responded to the proposal. And this silence is increasingly problematic. NSW has repeatedly indicated the state is prepared to start welcoming international students – safely. The South Australians are supportive. Everyone in the international education sector wants students back. But international students are starting to tune out. International students are now just cynical. Angry. Tuning out. International students, the stranded offshore cohort, and prospective students, have been let down over and over again. Throughout 2020, they heard Australia talking about reopening by July, reopening by September, pilot programs commencing soon in one state or another: then plans being shelved or not approved. While we wait for a firm, approved announcement on re-opening, we must change the way we’re communicating with international students. |
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‘Lollipop’ or ‘played’ ‘Oh please stop believing their so-called plan. They aren’t going to do anything for students these [sic] are just a way to get some international students for July’. This is just one of a flood of similar comments on international student social media channels. Australia is at real risk of international students not hearing us when we announce that borders will reopen, in whatever form and timeframe. ‘Lollipop’ is a term doing the rounds on the international student media socials. ‘Played’ is another term they’re using. International students are essentially telling us ‘All sizzle, no sausage’. They’re telling us every announcement, met with a non-announcement, is just a tactic to generate applications for a new intake so Australia gets their money. |
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What do we need to do? International students are telling us that they just want simple communications from Australia to answer questions like: - Should I take up my offer or just give up and go somewhere else to study?
- I’ve heard the borders won’t open until 2024 - is this true?
- I need to know when I can get to Australia before I start studying online.
Our silence and internal squabbling is doing nothing for the students who want to return to study or commence their studies in Australia. It’s time we changed the conversation. As a country we’re great at marketing the benefits of studying in one of the great international education destinations in the world. But right now, as a sector, we need to focus even more than we are on communicating what we know, what we don’t, and to help international students find factual answers rather than relying on rumour and innuendo. There is a way we can and should be responding in this vacuum of information. If you’re a provider, a study destination, or any other organisation with a stake in the international education sector in Australia, get in touch. The Lygon Group can help you design a communication strategy to support your students. |
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We are thrilled to welcome The Lygon Group’s newest staff member, Varsha Devi Balakrishnan. Varsha has just graduated with her third degree from Monash University. She’s been an international student and has joined us as Education Analyst, supporting our Head of Research, Dr Angela Lehmann. Varsha was National Secretary of the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) 2019/2020. Varsha tells us about her experience at CISA in the first year of the pandemic: ‘One of my main tasks, when COVID hit… we all had to think on our feet and assume multiple new responsibilities… was to closely work with Austrade to be the voice of international students, raise their concerns and issues as well as lobby and advocate for their welfare and needs with the international education sector.’ Varsha was drawn to The Lygon Group because we put the voice of international students at the centre of all we do to support our clients with their international education challenges and opportunities. ‘I can finally put all my years of being an international student leader to good use. International students having a positive experience is the key to sustaining and ensuring Australia’s future as a study destination. TLG understands the merits of bringing student voices to the forefront…. Having studied in Australia for 7 years, I can attest to the quality of an Australian education and the overall Australian experience. The international education sector needs to be extremely mindful and human-centred in communicating with and about international students.’ Welcome Varsha! |
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UK releases report into managing risks from partnering with China in higher education and research A report titled “The China Question: Managing risks and maximising benefits from partnership in higher education and research” was launched by King's College London’s Policy Institute in March. With China set to overtake the US to become both the world’s biggest spender on R&D and the UK’s most significant research partner, the report argues that the UK urgently needs to put in place a framework for this key relationship so that it will be able to withstand rising geopolitical tensions. According to Jo Johnson, an author of the report and former Minister of State for Universities, the UK needs to do a better job of measuring, managing and mitigating risks that are at present poorly understood and monitored. The paper emphasises the value of foreign students and overseas scientific talent to the UK. |
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China updates vocational majors, pivoting to modern industries The Ministry of Education has released a new catalog of 1349 vocational majors catering to China’s plans for developing its industrial system. The adjustment accommodates nine emerging sectors considered to be of strategic significance including infant care and geriatric care. The new catalogue of courses published in March (link in Chinese) includes majors to be taught at China’s professional and technical colleges, a network of higher education institutions for people who do not attend universities. |
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Opposition in Hungary to Fudan University’s planned campus in Budapest A political row has broken out in Hungary over plans to build a Chinese university campus in Budapest after a report claimed it would be financed almost entirely by a Chinese loan, built by a Chinese company and would replace a major accommodation complex promised to Hungarian students. Despite opposition domestically, Hungary signed a strategic agreement with Fudan University on opening a campus in Budapest by 2024. It would be the school’s only foreign outpost, and the first Chinese university campus in the European Union. |
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New international students in the US fell by 72% in 2020 According to data released from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, the total number of active student-visa records fell by 18 % while participation in optional practical training declined by 12%. |
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Canada offers permanent residence to recent graduates Canada is rolling out a special immigration program that will grant permanent residence to international students who have graduated from Canadian institutions within the past four years. The program is also open to temporary foreign workers in a range of health care and other essential fields. |
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Myanmar Australian providers enrolled just over 3,000 international students from Myanmar in 2020. These students are experiencing a heightened sense of trauma right now. Onshore students are concerned about the situation at home, while those studying offshore are suffering the dire impacts of the military coup. Some students can't pay fees because the banks in Myanmar have shut, while those with student visas about to expire fear death if they return home. For the stranded offshore cohort studying in Myanmar, access to the internet and search engines has been restricted making online study impossible. We encourage Australian education providers to support their students from Myanmar. We’ve done this before, in so many similar crises. |
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