The China-Australia Chamber of Commerce will on Saturday release new figures that show more than 60 per cent of the Australia-China education community believe attitudes in China towards Australian education have deteriorated. Schooling experienced the largest decrease in confidence at 62 per cent,with universities a close second at 57 per cent.
Ms Wang,an education consultant at Xinjiang Huanhua International Education,who asked only to be referred to by her last name,said students can apply for Australian universities.
“But none of our students consulted about studying in Australia since the end of 2019. Most of them chose to study in the UK.”
Another regional centre,Kunming,was also cited as an area of concern for university recruitment programs.
A consultant at Kunming Wiseway education agency said applications were being processed and students were applying “but we have informed them about the real situation there”.
Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said he had received no official confirmation of the reports,which he described as “anecdotal”.
“I’ve not had official reports of this but I’ve heard indirectly that it is occurring in some locations. We don’t want to jump at shadows,” Mr Tudge said.
“Australia offers outstanding education options for Chinese students,most of whom have stuck with Australian universities through the pandemic.”
Griffith University’s Vice President (Global) Sarah Todd said she’d spoken with Australian-based representatives of Chinese recruitment agencies who confirmed their provincial offices were aware of the so-called directive,but said it had not been communicated to them through official channels.
“Agents I’ve spoken to have heard this rumour but nobody provided any evidence of having being approached by anybody. It’s very speculative at the moment. There’s no evidence that any of their Beijing or Shanghai offices have been notified,” Professor Todd said.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne,Duncan Maskell,toldThe Australian Financial Review on Thursday that staff in China had raised concerns about the situation.
“As with many things like this in China,you struggle to understand whether,at one end of the spectrum,it is a directive or just some pressure on agents not to recommend Australia as a destination,” he said.
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Universities were among the first institutions targeted by Chinese authorities at the start of the coronavirus pandemic after Australia shut down travel from China in February 2020,leaving Chinese students stuck at home. But bilateral relations between Canberra and Beijing continued to plummet in the following months over the coronavirus inquiry,blocked business deals and allegations of human rights abuse,fuelling fears that Australia’s number one student market could shun local universities well beyond the coronavirus crisis.
The economic impact of China turning off the tap to Australia-bound students would be considerable. Chinese students comprise the largest cohort of students across Australia’s broader $40 billion international student education export industry,which encompasses schools,private English language colleges,and vocational education institutes.
In Victoria,international student education is the state’s number one export. In NSW it is worth $14 billion a year and is the second-largest export after coal. NSW Treasury is also aware of the reports from Chinese recruitment agencies.