Mauritius identified in Australian government student visa crackdown
In the light of all the recent well- publicised international student problems in Australia, the Australian government has taken certain initiatives in an attempt to address these problems.
One of the initiatives announced this month by the Australian government is a crackdown on student visa application overseas. Stronger student visa application checks overseas have been imposed on several countries shown to have had unusually high doubledigit growth over the last 2- 3 years. Mauritius has been identified among these countries, along with India, Nepal, Brazil and others.
Equally, Australian government authorities have identified several “ high risk” private colleges within Australia that are currently undergoing a rapid audit. In Victoria alone, around 10 colleges have been closed down since July 2009.
Nationwide, more than 10,000 international students have found themselves without classes to go to in recent months as a result of these college closures, some with only a few weeks to go before graduating. There have been a few Mauritians among this group.
The problems and difficulties that have surfaced within the international student industry in Australia have to do with 3 key issues: 1) dodgy private colleges operating in Australia, 2) unscrupulous and false education agents operating overseas misleading people on Australian education and immigration, and 3) people with no genuine interest in education using student visas as a way in to the country for immigration purposes.
Post secondary education in Australia is divided in two sectors – vocational education and training ( VET) offering certificate and diploma courses, and higher education ( e. g. University) offering bachelor, master and doctoral degrees.
International students are in greatest numbers in the VET sector rather than at universities. This is also true among Mauritians. Latest figures show that as of 30 th September 2009 Mauritian student enrolment in Australia was at an all time record high counting almost 5,000, a 26% increase from a year ago. Of these however, 68% or 3,386 are enrolled in the VET sector.
Mauritian students can be found in largest numbers in the State of Victoria with 2,498 enrolments, 507 more than a year ago.
70% of them are enrolled in the VET sector. Western Australia has the second largest number with 1,387 enrolments, 362 more than a year ago. Almost 62% of them are enrolled in the VET sector.
And NSW has 908 enrolments, 130 more than a year ago with 74% in the VET sector.
These figures show clearly that the majority of Mauritian students in Australia are pursuing 2- year diploma courses rather than 3- year bachelor or higher degrees. Students enrolling in the VET sector have two options: 1) the well- established, public TAFE institutes ( Technical and Further Education) across Australia, or 2) an array of private colleges varying in size, experience and service quality. Amazingly, of the 197,000 international students enrolled in the VET sector in Australia, over 90% are at private colleges, with the remainder at the public TAFE institutes.
Unqualified agents
This extremely high concentration in private colleges provides an important clue as to where in the system problems lie, often evidenced by private colleges having no or minimum experience in the domain of education, inadequate proper facilities and services for students, as well as, oftentimes, delivering a substandard level of education.
Reports from frustrated and angry international students at private colleges have included: “ hospitality schools not having a commercial kitchen, only a handful of computers to serve hundreds of students, classes being taught by second year students instead of qualified teachers, abusive language from administration staff and more.” But apart from the problem of dodgy colleges in Australia that results in international student problems and dissatisfaction, there are also problems that originate in countries of origin as a result of unscrupulous and false agents in operation misleading people, as well as the practice of falsification of documents at the point of student visa application.
In the Mauritian context, in 2006 the Mauritian government initiated legislation to license and regulate education agents in Mauritius as a measure to address this problem. The Ministry of Education’s Website currently lists 25 licensed education agents and 32 non- licensed agents in Mauritius. However, some claim that there are even more unlisted unlicensed and unqualified agents in operation in Mauritius. For the most part, these unlicensed operators have no background in education and are unqualified to provide educational advice and services.
By contrast, genuine and qualified education agents in Mauritius, such as the Overseas Education Centre at Moka and others, have assisted thousands of genuine students find good universities and colleges in Australia.
I have met many of them here and they are doing well and having a good experience.
Since dodgy colleges in Australia often lower the bar for admission purposes, are more likely to compromise on other standards and requirements, and offer any “ agents” larger commissions for bringing students to their colleges, unscrupulous agents are likely to steer prospective students towards the dodgy colleges for their own practical and profiting reasons while ignoring the best interests of the students.
In addition, people not genuinely interested in education but rather immigration will typically tend to approach an unscrupulous rather than a genuine licensed education agent. In turn, these people are likely to end up in dodgy colleges, since for them, education is just an avenue they have to pass through in the hope of obtaining their permanent residence visa.
In short, international students, among them many Mauritians, who end up in these dodgy colleges, often feel very disappointed, frustrated, angry, fearful and exploited. And since many of the smaller private colleges have little or no student support services in place, many international students do not know their rights in Australia and often exist on the fringe of society.
Landlords, employers, shop owners and sometimes, even fellow international students often profit from the most vulnerable international students. For example, quite often employers will pay international students less than the legal minimum rate, or landlords will overcharge for rent, and not knowing their rights, the students are afraid to say anything in case they get caught.
There is no doubt that, partly as a result of recent widespread publicised international student problems in Australia, the government has taken stock of the situation and is acting to appease public concerns as well as to try to protect its $ 17 billion industry.
Other measures currently undertaken include 1) a complete review of the international student legislation ( ESOS) with stricter measures due to be implemented in 2010, 2) an increase of $ 6,000 to the minimum amount that applicants will have to show when applying for a student visa in Mauritius. The new amount required is now $ 18,000, 3) a reregistration process of all private colleges with some undergoing a rapid audit, and 4) changes in eligibility requirements when applying for permanent resident visas within Australia after completing studies.
Great opportunity
These tighter student visa application measures among others will result in lower visa application approvals and higher rejection rates overseas. While the number of Mauritians registered as students in Australia overall is at an all time high, the latest figures show that for the first time in 5 years, the number of new enrolments to year ending 30 th of September 2009 has begun to drop. Between September 2004 and September 2009, there were 555, 643, 892, 1,162, 2,388 and 2115 new enrolments among Mauritian students in Australia respectively. The increase enrolment trend can clearly be seen by these figures with a dramatic peak in 2008. This trend is reversed as of September 2009 with 273 less new enrolments.
Several Mauritian students that I have talked to in recent weeks in Melbourne have expressed a sense of frustration and dissatisfaction with the current situation and are considering abandoning their plans and dreams of settling in Australia and either returning home or looking to other pastures. My own view is that the international student industry in Australia has reached a plateau and has entered into a needed corrective phase. The industry is likely going to experience a drop in numbers across the board in the short to medium term before eventually finding a new equilibrium.
Genuine qualified prospective students who are diligent in their preparation and applying to well established and reputable institutions in Australia have nothing to fear and can generally expect to have a very successful experience in Australia. And if eligible after their studies, the option of applying for permanent residency provides a great opportunity to a new life and career for those who wish to pursue that option.
Jean- Noël Moutou, Sociologist, School of Community and Health, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
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