Plain Old Luck:
9 August 2009
By David Blane
As the world struggles to minimize the impact of the global recession, it seems that Australia has
for the moment escaped the pain associated with a global recession.
Was this escape good management or just good luck, we at Hardcore Investments now believe it was plain old luck,
the right place, the right time and the right products.
For example, international education should be at the forefront of Australia's economic strategy, but it is not.
The revenue generated by the international education sector over the past few decades has recorded staggering growth.
And the Australian Reserve Bank now places education behind only coal and iron ore as Australia's most important export.
In 2008, there were 543,898 full fee paying international students in Australia. The figures released in the
Access Economics Report in April 2009 reveal that international students spend $14.1 billion in Australia per year.
Last year, $4.3 billion was spent on food and accommodation alone.
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The presence of international students in Australia generates jobs for Australian workers, helps develop bilateral links among
Australia and our international graduates, this promotes Australia as a destination for travel, investment and
trade.
And in a sector that generates so many positive outcomes, the safety and wellbeing of international citizens studying
in our country should be a national priority.
So what is going on. An investigation into the international student industry has found thousands of students are being enrolled in dodgy
courses at inflated prices and sold unrealistic dreams of cheap living and plentiful jobs.
Australia's lust for high dollar international students has led to a thriving black market in sham marriages,
forged English language exams and bogus courses, and turned a respected international education sector into a recognized immigration racket.
Indian education agents operating across the Punjab, the main feeder community for Indian students in Australia, openly advertise contract marriages
for aspiring migrants to partners who have passed the mandatory English test for a student visa.
For an additional fee, these agents can arrange bank documents and loans to satisfy Australian immigration law that demands students
have the means to support themselves for the duration of their course.
Following a spate of racial attacks, Australia is fast falling off the map for international students going abroad for higher studies.
University representatives estimate admissions to Australian universities and other institutes are down by more than 50% this year.
But it's not only racism that is damaging the credibility of Australia's better universities is also a government policy,
which threw in work permits and migration advantages to woo students away from the USA and UK universities.
The Australia government has promised to crack down on migration scams targeting international students, with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith
saying the government will tighten regulation on migration agents.
Smith insisted the government was taking action to stamp out abuses of the system.
"We want Australia to continue to be a good place for students to come, any of these abuses we of course will not tolerate and do not tolerate".
The Australian Greens believe an independent regulator is the answer.
Senator Hanson-Young said an independent regulatory body was required to restore the integrity of the booming international education sector.
"We need an independent body to oversee and take action if there is a complaint.
They actually need some authority to step in and do something", she said.
And for Australia to proceed with its ambitions of becoming a major player in the online education sector, an independent regulator with teeth
is a must.
Restoring credibility might also require more stringent admissions policies so that only students who can do demanding work will be accepted.
It will mean an end to sham courses, sham grades and immigration rackets run by gangsters.
Lest we sell our own children's future for 30 pieces of silver.
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