Australia scores high on study destinations' list
More Indian students are choosing to study in Australia than ever before. In the ’05 academic year, 27,661 Indian students were enrolled in various education institutes in Australia - a 75% increase over the previous year.
By Urmi A Goswami, TNN |
CANBERRA: More Indian students are choosing to study in Australia than ever before. In the ’05 academic year, 27,661 Indian students were enrolled in various education institutes in Australia — a 75% increase over the previous year.
This is especially true for vocational or professional courses. There has been a 143% increase over ’04 in the number of Indian students pursuing vocational courses in Australia.
Australia’s rise as a preferred education destination began in the aftermath of the visa restrictions following September 11 attacks.
In the interim, Australia has been able to capitalise on the fact that it is an English-speaking country, which offer a range of courses in the post-school segment.
Though the vocational education segment has registered the highest increase in the last two academic years, it is the higher education universities which net the largest number of Indian students. The higher education segment attracted as many as 22,279 Indian students, a 24.8% increase over the ’04 tally of 17,858 students.
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A rather interesting figure is the number of Indian students enrolled in the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (Elicos) for learning English as a second language. In ’04, as many as 1,079 students enrolled in these courses; the number went up to 1,307 in ’05, up 21.1%. What makes this interesting is that the Indian student population in Australia is no longer restricted to the English-speaking classes in India. Largely, Indian students pursuing education abroad are well versed in English, as they have studied it as part of their school curriculum.
India is the second largest source country for international students in Australia. China tops the list with 81,184 students. However, India has registered a higher increase in the number of students than China.
Interestingly, Indian students have shown a remarkable preference to study in New South Wales and Victoria. Institutes in New South Wales attracted as many as 10,019 students in ’05 over the 7,511 in ’04, while Victoria attracted as many 12,936 students in ’05, over 9,661 students in ’04.
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The Australian Capital Territory, which is home to the Australian National University, University of Canberra and the Canberra Institute of Technology, only attracted as many as 340 Indian students in ’05.Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
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