Australian Industry Group (AiG) CEO Innes Willox has broken rank from the other business lobbies and rejected the notion that international students are the key to Australia’s future.
AiG has come out in support of the federal government’s cap on international students. Willox argues that the focus of universities should be on educating Australians and boosting economic participation and productivity, rather than “squabbling over foreign student quotas”.
“Yes, international students contribute to economic growth, but it’s finite, it has to be”, Willox wrote in The Australian.
“Imagine instead the exponential growth that might be possible if our tertiary education system was focused and empowered to work together to provide the high quality higher and vocational education we need to drive our economy forward? That’s something worth arguing for”.
Willox also noted that Australia’s “economy [is] lying 92nd out of 133 countries surveyed for Harvard’s most recent index of economic complexity, just behind Uganda and having fallen 38 places since 1995”.
“Rejuvenating our skills base to help fix this problem needs to be our focus, not squabbling over foreign student quotas”
“Let’s take a breath and consider the bigger picture before we claim international students are the key to our future”, Willox said.
Innes Willox is the only representative within the business lobby that sees this issue clearly.
Nobody can seriously claim that Australia’s higher education system is functioning properly amid the highest concentration of international students in the world.
The explosion in the number of international students has been disastrous for pedagogical standards.
Last month, The Guardian reported that Australia’s universities have been issuing degrees like candy to students who cannot speak English and do not understand the coursework:
The Guardian followed up by exposing the systemic cheating by international students at our universities:
ABC Radio also reported that economics tutorials at the University of Melbourne were being held in Mandarin:
Meanwhile, the Australian reported that “dozens of dodgy training providers have been shut down over ties to organised crime, fraud and bogus qualifications”:
This all happened last month, and follows countless similar reports spanning more than a decade, including Four Corner’s 2019 report, entitled Cash Cows.
Four Corners investigated how Australia’s higher education system is being undermined by large volumes of international students:
“I’m not against international students. In fact, I’m for international students, but I have concerns about how we’re dealing with it.” Academic
Academics and students are speaking out to reveal a picture, across the nation, of compromised academic standards.
“Many students seemed to be unable to understand instructions or understand the material that was put in front of them.” Academic
“I would do my best to make sure that the team would understand the topic each week, and then I would get them to send to me what they had written, and I would try and rephrase it into more readable English.” Student…
Teaching staff say that universities are risking their reputations by taking on students who are not capable of advanced levels of learning.
“Admitting students who don’t have the right qualifications, or right prerequisites, or correct language capabilities is setting them up for failure. This is just not what a university should do. That’s not what education is about.” Academic
Insiders warn that with international student numbers continuing to grow, the problem needs to be tackled urgently.
“I think it’s a train wreck. I think it’s, it’s coming and it’s coming hard and the incoming government’s going to have to deal with (it).” Private education consultant…
Any objective assessment of the international education sector would conclude that the explosion of international student numbers has badly degraded Australia’s tertiary education system, thereby putting at risk Australia’s future productivity and living standards.
The focus of higher education must pivot to quality over quantity.
