IEAA News

IEAA Calls

Written by: IEAA Secretariat, 07 Jul 2009

MEDIA RELEASE

IEAA calls for a Comprehensive International Education Strategy

The International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) today welcomed the announcement by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) for the development of a proposed development of a national International Student Strategy but called for a broader approach.

“We need an international education strategy, not just an international student strategy”, said IEAA President, Stephen Connelly.

“The IEAA Board, which met in Brisbane for two days last week, believes Australia needs a strategy that is both deep and broad, along the lines of the recent Jackson Committee Report into the future of Australia’s tourist industry”, said Connelly.

“While students are central to international education, the strategy should be broader than international students alone. And while it should have the international student experience at its core, it should also deal with issues of leadership, industry sustainability, professional development and professionalization of the industry, the experience of local staff and students in an internationalized classroom, community involvement, outbound student mobility and an active research agenda.” said Connelly.  “It is crucial we get this right and that governments around Australia act in concert and don’t drop the ball”.

“The approach by governments to international education has been narrow, parochial and needlessly fragmented.  The development of a comprehensive national strategy offers the best hope that Australia will at last take a comprehensive, forward looking approach to this important industry”, said Connelly.  “Being reactive and on the back foot is not a viable option”.

IEAA strongly supports initiatives by institutions and by various authorities to strengthen support for international students to better enable students to make informed decisions about their education, their interactions with the Australian community, their safety and their freedom from exploitation by unscrupulous landlords and employers.  “We need to consider initiatives to check that students are appropriately financed for their studies.  All state governments also need to accept that travel concessions for international students are a safety as well as a social inclusion issue and should move quickly to put concessions in place in those states without them”.

“A lot can be achieved if industry and governments work together to support industry research and to lift investment to a level commensurate with that for other major Australian industries.  And we need to properly inform and engage with the community generally if we want to achieve the full benefits of international education for Australia, including innovation, diplomatic, social, labour market and business outcomes”, said Connelly.



Media Contact:
Heather Crosling, Media and Communications Unit, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Vic.  Ph: 0416 174 962. Email: hcrosling@swin.edu.au.