Spurred by the ‘dollar dream’ and an unending desire to make a splash in a foreign land, the Indian students continue to fly in droves to Australia. This despite recent stringent immigration laws of the kangaroo-land, making permanent residency slightly difficult.
While some immigration experts here predict the student surge to continue for some more time, past and present Indian students in Australia fear a host of problems like job crunch and high living costs in big cities like Melbourne and Sydney, already bursting at their seams, continuing to haunt fresh migrants from homeland.
The encouraging part of the whole Australia education scenario remains comparatively easy permanent residency through ‘traditional’ courses like Commercial Cookery and Hair-dressing which continue to be in high demand in that country.
In a bid to allay fears in the minds of prospective Australia student visa-seekers, we spoke to Mr Jagdeep Singh, a reputed student visa consultant of Chandigarh; Ms. Gurpreet Wadhera, Head, English Programs at BetterThink, Ludhiana, the language division of Top Careers & You (TCY); and a former Information Technology student, Mr. Gurinder Birring, who chipped in his experiences from Melbourne.
| With more than 30 centres in Northern India, BetterThink provides students with consultancy to get admissions and visa for Australia. Apart from Australia, it is also making inroads into providing quality services for the UK. Recently, BetterThink has got an offer for nursing students from a government college in that country, where a nurse with GNM can also get entry directly into post-graduation with only 5.5 Bands, whereas in Nursing normally the requirement is over 7.0 bands. |
The following are some excerpts from the interviews with R.M.S. Atwal:
Q.1: With so many Indian students flocking to Australia, don’t you think education in that country has reached a saturation point for foreign students?
Gurpreet Wadhera: Australia is in high demand when it comes to higher education, as students have a choice on variety of specialized available courses. Despite such a glut of foreign students in the recent past, more and more students are choosing Australia as their overseas study destination. It offers an education experience with a difference.
Jagdeep Singh: As per latest estimates, about 30,000 Indian students got Australian visas last year. If you compare it with the US, it is about 80,000 a year. Australia still has a great potential for the Indian students. The only thing that worries Australian authorities is the quality of Indian students going there. What is painful is that some of the Indian students do not comply with that country’s visa rules and regulations.
Q.2 How would Australia cope with the job market demands during the next five years?
Jagdeep Singh: As per latest estimates, about 30,000 Indian students got Australian visas last year. If you compare it with the US, it is about 80,000 a year. Australia still has a great potential for the Indian students. The only thing that worries Australian authorities is the quality of Indian students going there. What is painful is that some of the Indian students do not comply with that country’s visa rules and regulations.
Q.2 How would Australia cope with the job market demands during the next five years?
Gurpreet: The Australian Government has realized this. Now, with the changed laws, the demand-supply gap in certain professions would narrow down.
Gurinder: The job opportunities are quite good and believed to get better in the future. There is a high demand for skilled labour in the Australian job market.
Q.3 Don’t you think getting a PR would now be difficult for foreign students with Australian immigration laws becoming stringent day by day?
Gurpreet: Yes, it would be a little difficult, but not impossible. The student will need to apply for his skills assessment, medicals, police checks as quickly as possible, and then lodge an application for one of three types of permanent visa: Skilled - Independent; Skilled - Sponsored and Skilled - Regional. If a student does not satisfy the criteria for a permanent visa immediately, he/she may also apply for a Skilled – Graduate visa. This will give him up to 18 months to complete the requirements or gain any necessary work experience. Moreover, now with higher IELTS band it would be a little difficult to get a PR, but not impossible.
Jagdeep: While it would become a little difficult to get a PR for foreign students, but it would never be impossible. Australia, like any other country, wants people with high skills, especially those in high demand. The future migration policies would be devised to get the students work in the field of skill category applied for migration.
Gurinder: Actually, Australia needs more and more people, but the Government has a couple of concerns: Most of the people coming here want to live in big cities, but the government wants them to move to rural areas or small towns and contribute to their growth. The migrants need to have a good standard of English along with some sort of skills. Even for the skilled people they want them to have some relevant experience. Now, all the changes in the laws ever made or about to be made revolve around these concerns.
Q. 4 What are the top careers and courses in demand these days?
Gurinder: The popular courses among Indians are the one that help them accumulate enough points to file for a PR. They are Cookery, Community Welfare, Horticulture, etc. The points for these courses keep on changing from time to time depending on industry demand.
Q. 5 What is your advice to Indian students who fail to adjust in big cities like Sydney and Melbourne, and sometimes have to come back?
Jagdeep: I think the problem is more with the motive with which the students move to Australia or anywhere overseas. They need to be counseled that the phase of their life they spend overseas is going to be a difficult part but eventually that would help shape up their bright future. Another is the financial aspect. If the parents are not financially strong enough to send their wards for oversees studies, they should not do so.
Q6. How important is the English language for Indian students?
Gurpreet: The significance of knowing the English language has never been as dire as it is being felt now. With our Government getting strict on unscrupulous travel agents, people have realized the value of going abroad through the legal way. Taking a test in English proficiency — International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or enrolling in an English-speaking course put prospective immigrants, especially the students, to a foreign land on a sound footing. We at BetterThink not only help our students get the required bands but also equip them for life-time. Number of free practice tests in IELTS and English language are available on www.tcyonline.com, the online initiative of TCY. I always advise my students to attempt as many tests as possible to improve their band score and command over the language.
Gurpreet: The significance of knowing the English language has never been as dire as it is being felt now. With our Government getting strict on unscrupulous travel agents, people have realized the value of going abroad through the legal way. Taking a test in English proficiency — International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or enrolling in an English-speaking course put prospective immigrants, especially the students, to a foreign land on a sound footing. We at BetterThink not only help our students get the required bands but also equip them for life-time. Number of free practice tests in IELTS and English language are available on www.tcyonline.com, the online initiative of TCY. I always advise my students to attempt as many tests as possible to improve their band score and command over the language.
Gurinder: The objective of the students should not be just pass IELTS and come here. Most of our students have a hard time over here when they are not able to understand the classroom lectures. True, understanding an Australian accent takes time but our students should come prepared before boarding a flight. I would suggest them not to waste their time once they get a visa. The smart act would be watch some Australian movies at home and study this country’s culture. The bottom line is, the language should not be a barrier.
About tcyonline.com:
Tcyonline.com is an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY), the largest student-teacher platform in the country. Plenty of English tests (Grammar, vocabulary, Reading and Spead Reading) apart from some IElTS are available on the website. Founded in 1998, TCY provides college level test preparation and school level supplemental education services. The company serves almost all the sections of student community, through classroom teaching, and online mode; from K-12 to students preparing for competitive exams. TCY is present at 34 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.
About tcyonline.com:
Tcyonline.com is an online initiative of Top Careers & You (TCY), the largest student-teacher platform in the country. Plenty of English tests (Grammar, vocabulary, Reading and Spead Reading) apart from some IElTS are available on the website. Founded in 1998, TCY provides college level test preparation and school level supplemental education services. The company serves almost all the sections of student community, through classroom teaching, and online mode; from K-12 to students preparing for competitive exams. TCY is present at 34 locations, and is tying up with more like-minded individuals and businesses, to further extend its footprint across the country.
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