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Victorian universities\u00a0recently re-proposed<\/a>\u00a0a previously conceived plan to get international students back under a similar model used to fly in tennis players for the Australian Open. Under the proposal, universities would help pay for around 1,000 foreign students to be flown into Melbourne every two to three weeks and placed into special lockdown arrangements.<\/p>\n Similar plans to get international students back have been considered in various states since borders closed in March last year \u2013 and then quietly shelved. So far, only the\u00a0Northern Territory has been able to bring 63 students to Australia<\/a>.<\/p>\n But 63 students is an almost negligible number compared to how many visa holders are still stranded outside the country \u2014 an estimated 30% of 542,106 (or around 160,000) student visa holders were outside Australia as of\u00a0January 10 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n In February, Phil Honeywood, the CEO of the International Education Association of Australia, expressed uncharacteristic desperation in his monthly email to members. He wrote:<\/p>\n When we directly lobby our federal politicians to promote student return plans, we are told that state\/territory governments have full control of quarantine and we have to persuade them first. However, our discussions with state and territory politicians invariably produce the response that because the federal government controls Border Force, the ADF and international airport arrival caps, they are the ones actually in control!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Victorian Acting Premier James Merlino\u00a0last week also blamed Canberra for the lack of progress<\/a>\u00a0to bring students back:<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t get that from the federal government then it doesn\u2019t matter what other ideas, whether it\u2019s the City of Melbourne, SA, NSW or ourselves, doesn\u2019t matter what idea you have to deliver it, if you can\u2019t get people [students] on the flights, it\u2019s a no-goer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge is on the other side of the blame game,\u00a0saying, at the end of March<\/a>:<\/p>\n there is still the opportunity to bring students back in small, phased pilots. This could occur if an institution works with the state or territory government and presents a plan to us for quarantining international students [\u2026] I have discussed various plans with government and university leaders but to date have not received any concrete proposal.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is all very confusing for the international education sector, which has come up with a number of concrete plans. Neither level of government seems to be able to either offer a sufficient explanation for why a plan it was considering was abandoned or, when an explanation is offered, when that plan may be resumed.<\/p>\n This creates the perception, among those working in the sector and international students, that no governments care about their fate.<\/p>\n The Australian Capital Territory and South Australia were the first jurisdictions to\u00a0announce plans<\/a>\u00a0to bring back international students. In June 2020, they proposed pilots that would bring in 350 and 800 students to Canberra and Adelaide respectively. But both these plans were put on hold after Victoria\u2019s second wave hit at the beginning of July.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Australian states & territories continue to work with the federal government on pilot programs to bring international students back into the country, despite the outbreak in Victoria and the PM\u2019s plan to cut down on international arrivals.https:\/\/t.co\/nQbjbASmVq<\/a> @ANUmedia<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SBS Punjabi (@SBSPunjabi) July 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nSouth Australian and ACT plans shelved<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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