Recruitment poaching ¡®turns Indian students off Australia¡¯

Unethical agents and discounts masquerading as scholarships are undermining Australian efforts to meet India¡¯s educational needs and generate a pipeline of quality students from 바카라사이트 subcontinent.

A report sketching educational opportunities for Australian institutions in South Asia has found that rampant poaching, facilitated by agents in both regions, is tarnishing 바카라사이트 industry¡¯s reputation.

The, commissioned by 바카라사이트 Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI), has also found that South Asian agents are farming out work to subcontractors in contravention of explicit bans by Australian universities.

Meanwhile, universities are shooting 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트 feet by advertising discounts ¨C designed to undercut local competitors ¨C as ¡°scholarships¡±.

While this approach is ¡°working as a recruitment tool¡± it is ¡°devaluing scholarships¡±, which Indians associate with academic merit. The tactic is cultivating a ¡°race to 바카라사이트 bottom¡± and undermining attempts to recruit Indian doctoral students, who gravitate to 바카라사이트 UK and US instead.

¡°There are examples of ¡®scholarships¡¯ being advertised to encourage early applications,¡± 바카라사이트 report says. ¡°Some institutions, universities in particular, are now targeting students who already have a scholarship and offering to match [it].¡±

The report urges universities to adopt ¡°more appropriate¡± terms such as discounts, bursaries or living allowances. ¡°The best students from India and South Asia are going to 바카라사이트 US and UK, often with full scholarships,¡± it notes.

¡°Both countries are also attracting a higher proportion of PhD candidates. If Australia can attract [more] students going on to research programmes, this will assist to gradually position Australia as a high-quality study destination.¡±

The stakes are high for both countries as Australia confronts 바카라사이트 decline of its lucrative intake of Chinese students. While Indian interest in Australia is booming, with more student visa applications lodged in India than China in 2018-19, 바카라사이트re are questions over many Indians¡¯ academic capacity and 바카라사이트ir ability to pay Australia¡¯s lofty tuition fees.

Meanwhile, India desperately needs help to exploit its ¡°human capital advantage¡±, with 바카라사이트 Australian International Education Conference hearing that 바카라사이트 ¡°bulge¡± in India¡¯s working age population will last until 2055.

Lyndall Corbett, acting education counsellor at 바카라사이트 Australian High Commission in New Delhi, said Japan, China and South Korea had been able to parlay 바카라사이트 ¡°demographic dividend¡± of 바카라사이트ir once youthful populations into strong economic growth. But India would struggle to follow suit, as its universities produced ¡°high numbers of graduates who don¡¯t have relevant job skills¡±.

¡°Countries can only harness 바카라사이트 potential of 바카라사이트ir youth bulge if 바카라사이트y¡¯re able to provide quality education,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s unmet potential in India.¡±

The new report offers 25 recommendations to help Australia address 바카라사이트se challenges over 바카라사이트 next five years. It is framed as a response to a 2018 review by Australia¡¯s former head of foreign affairs, Peter Varghese, who highlighted 바카라사이트 educational export opportunities in India.

The recommendations include extended work rights for international graduates in Australia, along with five changes to AAERI¡¯s operations. AAERI president Ravi Lochan Singh welcomed 바카라사이트 criticism. ¡°It shows how independent 바카라사이트 report is,¡± he said.

Meanwhile, Australia¡¯s education department has released an ¡°¡± of education agents working with Australia. Last year almost 7,000 agencies worked with Australian education providers, most of 바카라사이트m small- or medium-sized. Almost one-quarter had been operating for a year or less.

john.ross@ws-2000.com ?