International Education providers scathing of Labor

An open letter published in The Australian newspaper today from the Australian Council of Private Education and Training highlights the concern in the sector about Australia’s international education decline.

“Recent research produced by Deloitte Access Economics shows that international education revenue has fallen $2 billion each year over the last two years,” said the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne.  

“The Council has called on the Gillard Government to act immediately on the 2011 Knight Review into student visas which has been extensively delayed in implementation,” Mr Pyne said.

“Chris Bowen, the Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills must also act immediately on the recent Chaney Report into international education, which highlights major implementation issues associated with the Government’s new ‘genuine temporary entrant’ student visa test. 

“The Coalition wrote to the Minister when he held the Immigration portfolio well over 12 months ago warning him that there were problems with the student visa test that needed to be resolved in order to protect this vital industry.

“The Minister ignored our concerns, only to have the Chaney Report handed to him after he was appointed to the Education portfolio showing the same issues we raised needed to be fixed.

“The Council is also calling on the Government to recognise that the international education industry is not just about large institutions like universities, but is important for smaller providers and TAFE that play an important role in our international education economy.

“This echoes concerns from State Government Premiers who have been begging the Prime Minister to look at options to improve student visa arrangements for VET students, given the sector is going further into a downturn leading to job losses,” Mr Pyne said.

19 March 2013