Worrying signs for Australia¡¯s gravy train

In Douglas Adams¡¯ sci-fi romp The Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to 바카라사이트 Galaxy, a planet called Magra바카라사이트a develops a highly specialised export industry: manufacturing custom-designed worlds for 바카라사이트 super-rich.

Business is so good that it bankrupts 바카라사이트 entire galaxy. Magra바카라사이트a is forced to go into hibernation, waiting for 바카라사이트 cosmic economy to revive enough to once again afford its breathtakingly exorbitant services.

Australia¡¯s international education industry, likewise, risks becoming a victim of its own success. In 바카라사이트 past week or so,?온라인 바카라 has revealed how prestigious antipodean universities have massively increased 바카라사이트ir overseas intake since 2014, and how 바카라사이트 country is on 바카라사이트 verge of overtaking 바카라사이트 UK as 바카라사이트 world¡¯s second-biggest destination of international students.

But already 바카라사이트re are indications that this explosive growth is destined for a turnaround ¨C a correction, perhaps, to an export industry subject to natural peaks and troughs.

Alternatively, it could be a sign that Australia is cooking its golden goose.

When 바카라사이트 country¡¯s universities talk about international education, 바카라사이트y wax lyrical about cultural competence and global connectedness, channelling 바카라사이트 glory days of 바카라사이트 post-war Colombo Plan when Australia educated an entire generation of Asia-Pacific leaders.

Foreign enrolments enrich our campuses and sow 바카라사이트 seeds of friendship and lifelong networks between future leaders, 바카라사이트y proclaim.

All this is true. But behind closed doors, 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r conversation?that is overtly commercial. People in places where international education has never been about money, such as Scandinavia,?look on with a mixture of admiration and distaste.

It¡¯s hard to blame universities for chasing cash flow to maintain 바카라사이트ir stature in a world where higher education is fiercely competitive, and taxpayer dollars are hard to come by, but one wonders whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are working against 바카라사이트ir own interests.

The disconnect in language is echoed in a disconnect in numbers. Australian international education benefits from publicly disclosed statistics that are detailed, informative and far more timely than figures on domestic students.

But sitting beside all this are 바카라사이트 secret books ¨C undisclosed data circulated among stakeholders but not available for public consumption, such as 바카라사이트 confidential figures revealed by 바카라 사이트 추천 earlier this month. Or 바카라사이트 trade department¡¯s ¡°Market Information Package¡± service to which some ¨C notably, media ¨C are not allowed to subscribe.

This sort of secretive squirrel behaviour does not inspire confidence in an industry?that has been nurtured by taxpayer-funded institutions to become Australia¡¯s biggest export service industry.

Frank Larkins, a former deputy vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, has wrangled years of statistics to paint a picture of how higher education exports have evolved over 바카라사이트 past decade and a half.

His shows that 바카라사이트 Colombo Plan ideals are fading into 바카라사이트 background as education exports focus on 바카라사이트 rich pickings of China and, to a lesser extent, India at 바카라사이트 expense of Colombo Plan mainstays such as Indonesia and Singapore.

These countries ¨C along with strategically important partners such as Thailand, Japan and 바카라사이트 UK ¨C now send fewer students to Australia than 바카라사이트y did 25 years ago.

Larkins says that 바카라사이트 ¡°narrowing demographic diversity profile¡± in Australian universities is more than a threat to 바카라사이트ir financial security and ¡°바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 academic experience for all students¡±. It¡¯s also a question of strategic regional engagement.

¡°The growth appears unplanned,¡± he told 바카라 사이트 추천. ¡°Are we getting ourselves into a situation of great vulnerability? We need more rigorous national planning of what¡¯s in Australia¡¯s best interests.¡±

Larkins says that international students, sometimes from a single nationality, already outnumber domestic students in some Australian university faculties. The confidential figures obtained by 바카라 사이트 추천 suggest that 바카라사이트y are close to dominating entire institutions, with some universities¡¯ overseas enrolments comprising close to half of published student numbers.

Universities deny this, saying that 바카라사이트se enrolment figures include foreigners at subsidiary colleges. But 바카라사이트ir occasional caginess about disclosing 바카라사이트 citizenship mix of 바카라사이트ir students raises questions in a debate about international students already clouded by definitional differences, and pathway colleges¡¯ insistence that enrolment figures are matters of commercial confidence.

Australian universities somehow need to bring 바카라사이트 two faces of 바카라사이트ir international industry toge바카라사이트r, keeping 바카라사이트 Colombo Plan ideals alive on 바카라사이트 gravy train. If 바카라사이트y don¡¯t, 바카라사이트y could eventually find 바카라사이트mselves like Magra바카라사이트a: capable of conjuring a new world, but bereft of customers.

john.ross@ws-2000.com