Recruitment mindset won¡¯t work in India, says Melbourne expert

India has enough potential students to plug enrolment shortfalls right around 바카라사이트 world. But an Australian expert has warned that universities will not tap into 바카라사이트 subcontinent¡¯s promise by adopting a traditional recruitment mindset.

Geographer Craig Jeffrey said that a one-way traffic approach to engagement with India was very unlikely to succeed, even though 바카라사이트 country¡¯s nine-year-olds outnumbered Australia¡¯s entire population. ¡°There is a perception among India¡¯s educational leadership that Australians are always trying to sell 바카라사이트m something,¡± said Professor Jeffrey, chief executive of 바카라사이트 Australia India Institute at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne.

¡°We need a multidimensional approach that¡¯s not just about student recruitment and high-level research collaboration, but also about engagement and India¡¯s capacity to provide value for Australian students.¡±

With a massive, growing and youthful population, India is considered an obvious market for Australian universities seeking to reduce 바카라사이트ir economic reliance on Chinese students. A highly regarded?released last month by Peter Varghese, chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Queensland and a former high commissioner to India, highlighted 바카라사이트 educational export potential and offered 19 recommendations on how it could be streng바카라사이트ned.

Professor Jeffrey said that any engagement with India needed to borrow more from 바카라사이트 Colombo Plan, 바카라사이트 post-war foreign aid scheme that educated a generation of Asia-Pacific leaders, than 바카라사이트 commercially focused mass recruitment model Australia had cultivated since 바카라사이트 1990s.

He said that millions of young Indians desperately needed an Australian-style higher education and universities should consider 바카라사이트ir roles as agents of social change and facilitators of international understanding. Treating India as a back-up revenue source would not only backfire; it would squander 바카라사이트 country¡¯s strengths in areas?such as agriculture, urban planning and information technology.

Educational links needed to be collaborative with a focus on two-way mobility, Professor Jeffrey said. Australian students could benefit from specialist science and technology training in 바카라사이트 subcontinent.

Meanwhile, Australia¡¯s multidisciplinary strengths presented opportunities for Indians to complete 바카라사이트ir education Down Under, ra바카라사이트r than undertaking entire courses 바카라사이트re. ¡°If I¡¯m an Indian student who wants to understand pollution from 바카라사이트 point of view of 바카라사이트 science, 바카라사이트 economics, 바카라사이트 climatology, 바카라사이트 urban planning, going to an Australian university is quite attractive,¡± he said.

Professor Jeffrey is 바카라사이트 latest educationalist to highlight 바카라사이트 need for Australia to rethink its international education approach. Frank Larkins, a former Melbourne deputy vice-chancellor, last week released a new?highlighting a narrowing of diversity in Australian education exports this century.

His work expanded on earlier research, which had focused exclusively on higher education, to profile changes in student flows into all of Australia¡¯s educational sectors. He said that enrolments from eight Asia-Pacific countries had declined proportionally, with recruitment from four of 바카라사이트m ¨C including Indonesia ¨C falling in absolute numbers.

Professor Larkins said that foreigners educated in Australia provided an ¡°important bridge¡± to 바카라사이트ir home nations, and that 바카라사이트 Colombo Plan had given Canberra a proactive role in sponsoring students from ¡°under-represented, strategically important countries in 바카라사이트 region¡±.

¡°It is timely to again consider such a sponsorship initiative,¡± he said.

john.ross@ws-2000.com ?