Australia in a Sticky Wicket
Aussies seems to be having a tough time, it is not just about the on going Ashes between Australia and England. Australian universities are energizing for a significant drop in new international students, as they struggle to confront multiple challenges, from a stiffer Australian dollar to tough Visa requirements which happens to be a hurdle for students.
The projected decrease is generating vexation over Australia’s ability to retain its share of the International student market, which officials estimate is worth 18 billion Australian dollars, or about $17 billion, annually and represents the country’s third- largest export industry. It is not only a problem for the higher education system, but it is also a problem for the Australian economy.
The critical factors that lead to this situation:-
a)Fierce competition:
Increasing competition for international students especially from countries like the united states are among the factors for the decline.
b)Visa requirements:
The Visa costs, financial requirements, evidence of funds requirements and processing time, Australia is well behind that of its international competitors. (The Australian student Visa Cost 550 dollars, higher than the cost of student visas in Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand and the money students must have in their bank accounts to be eligible for an Australian student visa is also substantially greater than these countries.
c) Indian students:
Indian is the second largest market behind China for Australian Universities. Due to a spate of violent attacks on Indian students in Melborne (As reported by Times Now and other Channels) there is a huge decline on the enrollment.
Australia, as all of us know is a wonderful country with rich infrastructure but needs to focus on improving the factors influencing international enrollment that were with in its control. They need to have control over things like Visa regulation and National Image. It is time Australia works on new strategies to woo the Indian students.
If you were to be a marketing consultant what strategies would you use to attract the Indian students to Australian Universities. Share your thoughts !!
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9 Responses to Australia in a Sticky Wicket
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a good thought!! but what startegy do you suggest from your side ,sir?
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http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/10/25/higher-ed-in-trouble-the-indian-market-has-dried-up-altogether/
the above web site will add a bit of spice to your thoughts sir…
If you were to be a marketing consultant what strategies would you use to attract the Indian students to Australian Universities. Share your thoughts !! —-
1. Tie up for exchange programs (2 yrs MBA = 1 yr at GRD and 1 yr at OZ uni)
2. Option for work experience with Oz locals…
hmmmm..let me think ….
really great post sir…….
my strategies are,
1) the aussie govt have to take initiation to tackle the fear of international students which cause due to the attack on indian students.
2)universities have to put authorised consulties in countries like india or they have to conduct direct interviews in countries like india by sending authorised persons.
3)put adv s on international medias.
@ Anas Kallingal : Good one, my thoughts are, it is time they ( Australian Universities) work on their CSR and let them reposition their brand Australia towards Higher Education. There are a whole lot of Ideas which can be used ..! But let the Australian government take a stand on their Higher education policies..
Yes there is a significant fall in Indian students but the economy of oz is booming
Last month 1 AUD=1.2 USD
natural resources are everlasting boom
Even PR rules are srtict which is why Education in Australia is demanding and appealing in India,,,
Thanks for some quality points there. I am kind of new to online , so I printed this off to put in my file.
Finally, an issue that I am passionate about. I have looked for information of this caliber for the last several hours. Your site is greatly appreciated.
Dear KKR sir,
Its the first time i’ve come across your blod, and i am truly impressed.
I’ve been studying in Australia (Melbourne) for a year and 6 months now, and i must say i have a very different view than the rest here.
Firstly, a lesson we should all lern is , never blindly trust the Indian media. The recent decade has seen tremendous misuse of this constitutional pillar of support. Living in Melbourne, i have not experienced one such incident which i can say is racist, and nor have any other Indian i know. That does not take away the fact that there is racism in this country, and there have been awful rasist attacks, just like there is in most other countries. The difference is that Australia is open about all its issues regarding every person from every nationality. This information is exaggerated to a grater level by the Indian media, which not only worries people who are planning to visit Australia, but also Indians living here. And this in turn aggravates the non-racist Australians to be offended by any indian passing by because there has been fasle acquisitions .
Secondly, Indians here must understand that this is not our country, we are just guests here, and must treat this country like we would if we went to a guest’s house. You must stand in line while getting a train ticket, you must not scream and talk when using public transport (a lot of them here work even when they are travelling), you cannot stare at a girl wearing her gym shorts way above her knee, you cannot whistle and call a waiter at a restaurant, you cannot sneeze onto somebody without covering your mouth and not say sorry, you cannot spit any where you like and the worst, you cannot take advantage of the current situation , punch your self in the face, walk up to the police and make a complaint, saying that you were attacked. (I know people have done this, because if you make a complaint, the government gives you a compensation amount) This is not our country and we cannot expect the people here to tollerate us with this behaviour. Trust me, all this is first hand experience and it does happen a lot.
I do want to make it clear that i am not taking sides here, even though i am away, its only to gain knowledge through education here when eventually i will come back to India, because to me, India s and will always be home.
Thirdly, I must accept that the Australian government has not taken as much of an initiative as they should have to resolve this issue. My suggestions to this issue is not to talk and collaborate with India yet, but to start fixing the damage caused within Australia.
Strategy :
Step 1: Reinvent India for the Indians living in Australia, make them feel at home. Celebrate major festivals such a Diwali, Holi etc , have Indian food festivals etc, have radio and television shows to their interest, invite a musical celebrity to perform a the federation square.
Step 2: Since most of them who have been attacked are university students, take initiatives within universities. Promote an Indian student club, have events and activities. Have an Indian flash mob and get all nationalities to participate.
Once there is a positive outlook with Indians in Australia then we can move to the next step.
Step 3: Feed this info with videos, stats, data & testimonials etc to the Indian media, showing a happier Indian community. And continue step 1 and 2 in the process.
Step 4: Once the media has given sufficient coverage on how Australia as bounced back, then Universities and join hands with Indian universities, have a reasonable fee structure , lenient policies and have better representatives and tie up with recognized consultants.
With all this said, I must accept that Australia has taken a few of these initiatives but they should be more proactive because thats how Indians work. Fast paced with immediate results.