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Getting admitted to one of the world’s top ten political science programmes at Australia’s top university which proudly produced Nobel Laureates and even Prime Ministers, is a fascinating achievement in itself. However, soon as the pandemic stuck, everything turned upside down.
Australia has remained closed for international travel since last year, affecting the future of several young international students and skilled worker immigrants.
Much to their relief, two of the largest Australian states, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria announced plans to start a pilot programme, exclusively to facilitate the entry of international students back into the country. The programme has set a target to welcome back about 800 students per month.
Both NSW & Victoria have the largest cohort of international students. Speaking on the occasion, an Australian official admitted that the scope of the problem is much larger, but says this is an important first step. “We have over 470,000 people who are entitled to be in Australia, studying whether, in postgraduate, research, undergraduate or other elements of education, and currently 150,000 of those are offshore,” he told in an interview to a national daily.
He further added, “I’m not wishing to get their hopes up any higher. But what is positive is that two states, including Australia’s largest state, only last week announced pilot programmes to demonstrate not just to the federal government, but to the Australian community, that international students can return to our shores without there being a community health problem.”
| “In Australia, they want to create a COVID-free environment, rather than learn to deal with COVID like Europe is doing.” At the best, International students may be able to return at the end of the first semester in 2022. |
CanApprove Recommends…
Admission to top Australian universities is now open and in full swing with international students applying to begin their study program next year. However, as a responsible immigration consultant & overseas education counsellor, CanApprove is currently not actively endorsing any education programs in Australia because of uncertainty in travel restrictions. We’re expecting the situation to ease down soon.
Before the pandemic, Australia was among the leading study abroad destinations alongside Canada. Being a small country, Australia proudly hosts many universities in the top 100 in the world. Considering from a price point, tuition fees in Australia are more cost-effective than in North America and the U.K. The pilot programs announced last week will enable students to enter Australia soon, but there needs to be more clarity and better communication for immigration counsellors like us to endorse it.
Discover other exciting study abroad options by taking this free assessment online or get in touch with our consultants to know about your eligibility for immigration.
