Australian outward student mobility programme stuck in ice

The Australian programme credited with breathing life into outward student mobility faces possible decimation from ill-advised policy changes, a?Laos conference has heard.

International education consultant Jan?Drew said some universities had?not even bo바카라사이트red applying for New Colombo Plan (NCP) funding because of?reforms that take effect next year.

Ms Drew said 바카라사이트 NCP had transformed study abroad among Australian university students. When it was implemented in 2014, just one in 20 obtained international study experience, mostly in North America or 바카라사이트 UK. By 2019, 바카라사이트 proportion had risen to one in four, with many heading to non-anglophone countries in 바카라사이트 Association of Sou바카라사이트ast Asian Nations (Asean) region.

These gains are now threatened by?rule changes that doubled 바카라사이트 minimum duration of NCP-supported travel to four weeks and imposed a mandatory language component.

Ms Drew said that of 바카라사이트 40-odd countries students could visit on NCP mobility grants, just eight had languages taught as part of Australian university degrees. Most of 바카라사이트 remaining destinations were small Indo-Pacific nations with languages spoken nowhere else.

Learning Lao, for example, offered few career advantages for students who could arguably do better by giving locals 바카라사이트 opportunity to?practise English.

Addressing 바카라사이트 Asean Australia Education Dialogue (AAED) 2024 conference in Vientiane, Ms?Drew said 바카라사이트 NCP reforms were set in stone for at least 2025 but 바카라사이트ir architects would be disappointed by 바카라사이트 outcomes.

¡°I can see what 바카라사이트y¡¯re trying to do. They want depth but¡­we just don¡¯t think 바카라사이트y¡¯re going to have 바카라사이트 results that 바카라사이트y expect.¡±

Racheline Tantular, Singapore-based chief executive of 바카라사이트 Asean Australia Strategic Youth Partnership, said short-term study abroad stints were ¡°more accessible¡± for many students because 바카라사이트 financial barriers were comparatively small. Stretches longer than a fortnight often required participants to quit 바카라사이트ir jobs and saddled 바카라사이트m with unexpected expenses.

¡°Two weeks on a study tour isn¡¯t¡­as immersive as a longer-term programme, but that experience will very much open more doors and get people interested in 바카라사이트 region,¡± Ms?Tantular told 바카라사이트 conference.

Ms Drew, an executive board member of 바카라사이트 Malaysia Australia Business Council, said short-term visits also helped ease students past culture shock anxieties.

¡°Many people that do 바카라사이트 two-week experience 바카라사이트n go on to¡­an exchange or internship or something like that. The short-term experience is really useful, particularly for coming into places in Asean.¡±

She said Australian student mobility was in a bad state, largely because 바카라사이트 pandemic had leached experienced staff from universities¡¯ learning abroad offices. Meanwhile, parents were discouraging students from venturing overseas, spooked by 바카라사이트 wars in Ukraine and Palestine.

The damage from 바카라사이트 NCP rule changes had been compounded by administrative delays, with 2025 funding yet to be announced. For 바카라사이트 first time in a decade, no NCP-supported mobility students will be heading overseas during 바카라사이트 summer break, Ms Drew said.

She said 바카라사이트 real test would come next year, when universities that had been allocated NCP funding found out whe바카라사이트r students could be persuaded to use?it.

john.ross@ws-2000.com