The guide to all things International Education |
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Welcome to the seventh 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: Hope? There is still a long way to go Vaccine passports: which jabs will get the nod? What to expect from The Source in 2021
A Closer Look at China: In Case you Missed It: Canada protects post study work rights for students stuck 100% offshore India releases draft regulations to facilitate foreign partnerships Significant declines in first-time graduate school enrollments in USA Australia’s immigrants are tertiary educated – will it stay this way? International education strategies: who is doing it and why
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Welcome to the first edition of The Source for 2021. For international education in Australia – and indeed globally – some of the disruptions we faced in 2020 are stretching into 2021, but with COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out around the world there is renewed hope. The recovery can begin. For brand Australia, recovery and repair need to occur simultaneously. In Australia, our international borders remain closed, and we head into 2021 without a clear signal to international students about when they can plan to return or commence their studies. In the meantime, our major competitors (Canada, the UK, the USA, and New Zealand) continue to innovate on policy, government messaging and messages of welcome. It’s encouraging to see Minister for Education and Youth, Alan Tudge, quoted as saying “Of course, we want international students back in Australia” in his joint media release with Trade Minister, Dan Tehan. But we have a long way to go before the stranded offshore cohort and prospective students have the information they need to plan, with confidence, to return to Australia to study. |
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Vaccine passports: which jabs will get the nod? Australia has commenced its vaccination program, which will include all onshore international students, although it will take until October for the total population to be vaccinated. Globally, vaccination rates climb every day: for those of you who refreshed the Johns Hopkins global infection data obsessively in 2020 (a depressing activity), try this data source in 2021 - Our World in Data’s daily vaccination tracker. We promise, you’ll feel a lot better, especially if you filter by ‘total vaccinations’. As at 25 February, 216.17 million people had received at least one dose of a vaccine. Whatever border re-opening looks like for Australia’s international students, a vaccine passport will be essential. As 2021 unfolds we’ll be looking to see which vaccines are acceptable to the Australian government. Sinovac is being used in China and in multiple major Australian international student source markets including Indonesia, UAE, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and more. The Lygon Group is not a bunch of epidemiologists or vaccine experts (for which subscribers are eternally grateful), but we hope that medical expertise and vaccine efficacy are the sole criteria used to determine which jabs get the nod from the Australian government. |
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What to expect from The Source in 2021 In 2021, we’ll be sharing our insight and analysis on all the big challenges and opportunities facing international education in Australia including: Tracking student sentiment towards Australia Canvassing the policy changes the sector needs to remain competitive And, of course, sharing our analysis and insight into the big issues facing international education.
The Source newsletter will be in subscribers’ inboxes every second month. And in every other month, we’ll release an episode of The Source Pod, the podcast companion to this newsletter. Subscribe to The Source Pod wherever you get your podcasts by searching for ‘The Lygon Group’. Ep 1 2021 drops in March. |
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Chinese issues new government warnings
In recent months the bi-lateral tensions between China and Australia has led to China placing tariffs on Australia’s key export sectors. Until recently, the education sector has felt only the symbolic impact of Ministry of Education warnings to Chinese students about traveling abroad, a move that has little real impact at the moment as borders remain shut. In early February, this was escalated with the Ministry of Education announcing a strategic review into the quality of Australian education providers working with Chinese institutions. While the warnings that target students and their parents are likely to have low-level impact on decision-making, the latest warning targets industry and institutional decision-making, a threat that could have broader implications for TNE and brand Australia. Taking heed of the research and insight being undertaken by other major export sectors could assist in planning and responding during these volatile times.
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Students begin the Year of the Ox at home University students have had a second Chinese New Year festival disrupted by the pandemic. Universities across the country were expected to have more than four times the number of students staying on campus for the traditional holiday as the government called on people not to travel during the break. Several universities across China postponed the starting of the spring semester with students who do leave campus needing to provide a negative test result and a ‘green health code’ before returning to campus. The Ministry of Education urged schools and universities to link online and offline education and be prepared to adopt online learning when necessary. The experience of China’s domestic students during COVID-19 is relevant for Australia’s international education sector as prospective and deferring students are currently weighing up decisions about whether to cancel study abroad plans to study ‘at home’. |
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Canada protects post study work rights for students stuck 100% offshore The Canadian government has announced that international students who complete their entire Canadian program online from abroad, will still be eligible for post-study work rights in the country. The move is part of the Canadian government’s recognition of the importance of skilled migration as a part of their recovery plan. What this means for Australia: Canada’s announcement gives prospective students the encouragement they need to commence their 2021 studies online. The competition for commencing students just became a little more fierce for Australian education providers. |
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India releases draft regulations to facilitate foreign partnerships India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has released draft regulations designed to facilitate partnerships between Indian and foreign higher education institutions. Under the proposed regulations, any foreign higher education institution in the top 500 of the Times Higher Education or QS World University ranking will be eligible for automatic approval. The UGC is accepting comments and feedback on the regulations until 5 March 2021. |
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Significant declines in first-time graduate school enrollments in USA The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has reported that first-time graduate enrollment decreased by 39% between Fall 2019 and Fall 2020. The decline was consistent across institutional types. The CGS conducted two additional surveys to ask institutions what they consider the reasons for the decline. Most respondents noted travel restrictions in the United States and their home countries as the leading factors for the decreased deferrals in Fall 2020. Over half the institutions indicated that health-related concerns due to the pandemic also explained the increased deferrals. Over half of the institutions hosted virtual events to stay connected with their deferred cohort. |
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Australia’s immigrants are tertiary educated – will it stay this way? About two-thirds of Australia’s immigrants have tertiary degrees, according to a Pew Research Center analysis. By contrast, just a third of working-age immigrants to American graduated from college, whether in the US or elsewhere. Pathways from study to work are a key selling point for Australia and Canada. While Australia and Canada have skills-based migration systems, America gives preference to family ties. President Biden has said he would make it easier for a subset of international students, those who earn PhDs in STEM fields, to get green cards in order to attract talent to the USA. |
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International education strategies: who is doing it and why The UK government has updated their 2019 International Education Strategy to take into account the changing global context and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The updates include: Enhancing the international student experience from application to enrolment A new international teaching qualification, International Qualified Teacher Status Increasing export opportunities for UK chartered professional bodies and UK special education needs and disabilities providers The Turing Scheme, which will provide funding for students in universities, colleges and schools to undertake placements around the world.
This 2021 strategy reaffirmed the UK government’s commitment to increasing education exports and increasing the number of international students studying in the UK to 600,000 per year by 2030. Meanwhile, the President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in the USA, P. Peter McPherson has called for a US International Education Strategy. He says, “We need a multipronged strategy centered on three areas – setting welcoming visa policies and practices; increasing support to EducationUSA to demystify the U.S. college application process for foreign applicants; and expanding U.S. government support for initiatives that attract foreign students to the United States. The administration - with the academic community - should announce a strategy for attracting top students from across the globe backed with a goal to measure our progress.” |
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What is Clubhouse and does the international education sector need to know about it? The latest player on the social media block is Clubhouse, an invitation-only audio social network that has seen rapid growth globally in the last month. The app saw huge growth in China in recent months as it managed to fly under the radar of China’s firewall for some time, unlike other social media networks Instagram and Facebook. Large numbers of Chinese users were attracted to the app which gave them a chance of engagement in discussion on topics that are usually blocked in the mainland. On 8 February 2021 Clubhouse was blocked in China, however it has already gained a strong popularity and students based in Australia and around the world continue to use the platform. Clubhouse could be a new venue for institutions to see and hear first- hand the concerns and priorities of students, and to pass on critical information using students’ own preferred medium. |
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A series of three articles we’ve written in The Conversation between June 2020 and February 2021 about COVID-19 and international education have been read by over 100,000 people, globally. And that’s just one series of TLG articles or conference papers. |
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