Majority of Indian Students Going to Australia to Pursue Vocational Courses
In the last couple of years,
scores of Indian students have gone to Australia to pursue
vocational courses such as haircutting, hospitality or even cooking
in little-known private institutions that have mushroomed in and
around Melbourne over the last few years. This phenomenon seems to
be at the root of the string of attacks on Indian students in the
country over the last couple of months. The Victorian government is
now cracking down on these private institutions, auditing and
reviewing their functions. Detailed interactions with both Indian
and Australian communities, including senior officials of the
Victoria state and the federal government looking into the matter,
reveal that of the total Indian student community of 96,000 in
Australia currently, an estimated 75% are pursuing vocational
courses.
The Indian student enrolments
in vocational education and training (VET) shot up by a whopping
161% in 2006 and by 94% in 2007. In 2008, there were 52,381
Indian students enrolled in these programmes, the highest number
from any country, as per the data compiled by the Australian
Education International. The growth in the number of students
pursuing higher studies from India remained 5% both in 2006 and
2007. Australia has a $15 billion education export industry much
of which is fuelled by Asians, many of them Indians. Students
from India and China account for the largest overseas student
communities in the country. While enrolments of Indian students
increased in all the states, the strongest growth was seen in
Victoria and Queensland states with the most popular vocational
courses being management and commerce, food hospitality and
personal services and society and culture. Add Comment CommentsYou may also like to read
|
|