International Students and Their Challenges in Australia

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Table of Contents

The statistics on International Students in Victoria
The problems faced by International Students
Conclusion
References

The statistics on International Students in Victoria

According to the Victorian government (2008) statistics, the enrolment rate of international students has been on the rise since 2002 to present. The Victorian trends indicate that 74,433 overseas students were enrolled in 2002 alone. This represented 27 percent of the total share of students enrolled in Australian universities. In 2004, the figures had gone up to 89,565, marking a 1percent increase in terms of the overall student share in Australia. This percentage increase remained the same by 2006 although the enrolment rate had topped 106,476 international students. Between 2002 and 2007, the growth in terms of overseas student enrolment had reached 59,021 compared to 26,978 growths recorded in 2006 and 2007 (Victorian government, 2008).

It is imperative to note that the year 2007 was very significant because it recorded almost half of international student enrolment growth realised since 2002.

Additionally, 42 percent of foreign students in Victoria were admitted in higher learning (Australian Government, 2010). These students account for 30 percent of all the enrolment into higher education in Victoria. Furthermore, the Vocational Education and Training also witnessed about 30 percent of foreign students being enrolled. This included admissions both in the public and private sector. Those students who were enrolled to undertake courses on English language were 24,219. Similarly, the same number of international students taking on holiday working visas took the same course (Australian Government, 2010).

In 2007, a total of 8,045 overseas students were admitted and pursued their learning in Victoria. The private schools accommodated 4,854 of these international students while the public schools absorbed the remaining number which was 40 percent. In the same year, students from 187 nationalities undertook their studies in Victoria. Out of these countries, India has the largest enrolment ratio with a total of 33,953 students representing 25 percent of the overall enrolment in Victoria while over the last half a decade, Pakistan has increased its enrolment of international students in Victoria by three times.

The problems faced by International Students

Security

There has been a considerable degree of examination into the safety of foreign students within all the areas of jurisdiction in Victoria (State Government of Victoria 2010). There have been a lot of deliberations on the security needs of international students following grisly events which have occurred in the recent past. For instance, in 2005, an international student passed away in ACT. Three years earlier in 2002, there were horrible gun firing incidents which took place at Monash University. This triggered the attention of stakeholders in education key among them the government and student unions. As these occurrences when gaining momentum in the face of insecure international students, the media also added its voice by highlighting the events thereby increasing the public awareness of all that was happening.

Nevertheless, the attention of the government on the lack of safety on international students was mainly geared towards protecting the image of the export market which was experiencing expedited growth at this time. The main impression which educational providers and the government at large are attempting to create is that international students in Australia are not only secure but are also assured of successfully completion of their education (State Government of Victoria 2010). Moreover, some recent research has been carried out on the welfare and wellbeing of international students in Australia and it all seems to be in agreement with what the government and other education stakeholders are proposing. Nevertheless, this is not the true picture on the actual situation on the ground bearing in mind that international students have been facing security challenge in the course of their studies (Baldwin, 1997).

There are other ugly security incidents which followed the ACT death which in spite of being addressed by the media, the government has not taken any firm or decisive step to address the challenge. For example, violence against race has been one of the security threats not just in Melbourne but also the rest of Australian institutions of intermediary and higher learning. The most notable location where racial violence has been perpetuated is Southern Australia. Further, Melbourne also suffered racial attacks before the start of 2008. During the same year, several international students were drowned and consumed by fire in Victoria.

The student associations and representative bodies have often felt that the Australian government has not done much in addressing security issues surrounding the welfare of international students. Although institutions like Victoria University and University of Queensland have been on the forefront in tackling security concerns of international students, there is much more which need to be done. The National Code of Practice which has been pushed by the Australian government is yet to yield positive result owing to the fact that agents which deal with providing information for prospective international students often tend to conceal some pertinent details which may be useful to foreign students. It is therefore the responsibility of education providers as well as the government to ensure that the safety of international students is guaranteed (Marginson et al., 2010). The following proposals may be handy in addressing the safety of overseas students in Melbourne and the rest of Australia.

Recommendation: The security officers need to boost their professional capacity so that they can handle matters surrounding the safety of international students more effectively. For instance, the officers should be in a position to understand the different cultures and how visa requirements are affected by the same factor. This is the sole duty of the state government to assist the police officers to develop their professionalism. Additionally, both the government and the local community should have a comprehensive understanding of the lifestyles of international students. This includes hours when these students are supposed to be at work and their respective departure time. Safe transportation logistics should be put in place especially at night and in areas where security is of great concern. The public transport should therefore be availed at all times to cater for the needs of the international students.

There should be legislation enacted by the commonwealth government which would make sure that all information regarding safety matters are well documented. All the international students who are being enrolled in Australia ought to be oriented and this should not be optional.

The government should establish a centre where international students can refer all matters related to their safety. All those students who are foreign and may not be familiar with the local setting should then make use of this centre. Advocacy alongside other important details in regard to safety support to international students should be key in this centre. Hence, both the local and state government should collaborate on this establishment.

Employment

The international students do face a myriad of employment challenges which have mainly been aggravated by the outdated visa laws which do not favour the working experience of these group of employees. Employment plays a cardinal role in this case. The existing laws are not friendly to international students since they are not protected at all (Baker, Roberson, Taylor, &Doube, 1996). They are highly vulnerable to poor working conditions which encompass low pay and discrimination. Evidence shows that international students are restricted by the requirements of their visas which greatly limit them in terms of the number of hours they can work in period of seven days (International Development Program Australia, IDP Education Australia, 2007).

Whenever international students receive information which is not complete regarding the actual situation in their host country, they end up making wrong decisions especially in relation to how much they need to spend in the course of their studies. When such affected students run out of their financial resources, they opt to search for part-time employment so as to suffice their needs. They eventually end up suffering and living in poverty because they are not on work visas. Research statistics from Melbourne University which was conducted in 2004 indicated that less than 50 % of foreign students were employed contrary to AEI data which previously showed that about two-thirds of international students were partly employed. The main reason why there is a variation in these figures is that all the data is collected and analysed using qualitative and quantitative research and which may sometimes not reflect the reality because students may sometimes fail to give reliable information especially on the number of hours they are working per week owing to the fear of breaching the visa rules (Ong, 2009). Even for those who secure work, they still encounter several challenges which include but not limited to

Poor pay
Lack of understanding on the job description as well as how much they are supposed to be paid due to lack of information on the same.
Lack of job security because they are paid in terms of cash in hand
Sometimes, the working students are compelled to work for extra hours to meet their needs therefore limiting their class time.

Recommendation: It is highly recommended that the state government should work out ways and means of providing for additional funding so that international students may equally enjoy working rights through a familiarisation program to bring all the international students up to speed with the working environment in Australia. The orientation ought to be made compulsory for all the foreign students so that they become more familiar with the rules, regulations, rights and obligations at work place.

In addition, the commonwealth government should review the immigration act so that foreign students may also have the opportunity to fair working conditions including the consideration to work for 20 hours in seven days in relation to how much a student has in terms of academic work.

Accommodation

One of the main concerns on the welfare of international students is housing. The high demand for housing in 2008 which was aggravated by skyrocketing prices led to a serious shortage of accommodation facilities in Melbourne and other educational institutions which accommodate international students (Marginson et al. 2010). The equally smaller cities also experienced housing shortage during this time period and the challenge is still on the offing. Although initiatives have been developed to tackle accommodation needs for overseas students, there is much more which still to be addressed. Nevertheless, addressing housing needs in a decisive manner may not be that swift bearing in mind that it is within the power of the state to enact legislations necessary to improve the standards and capacity of housing in both urban and suburban settings. A legislative process

A case example is the housing forum which was conducted in 2007/8 by the government of Victoria. The forum aimed at seeking viable solution to the housing challenge facing international students. Negligible improvement has taken place even with a series of housing forums being done.

Besides, most international students are oblivious of their rental rights especially in cases when they happen to rent a private property (Ong, 2009). There are a myriad of housing regulations which these students are not familiar with apart from the fact that most of them do not understand the procedure for pursuing complaints related to accommodation.

Recommendation: It is necessary for all the educational institutions in Australia to make accommodation arrangements for international students who are admitted into their institutions for a period of at least one year since the date of admission. In achieving this, both the state and commonwealth government should work hand in hand to ensure that there is a working legislation in place which each and every learning institution admitting international students should adhere to.

Awareness

The media has quite often referred international students as potential source of income to the government. Notwithstanding this positive contribution of international students to the Australian economy, there has been emerging complaints that these groups of students tend to compromise the standards of education in Australia in addition to taking up education vacancies which are meant for local students (Australian International Education Foundation, 1998).

The argument is that international students have taken up places in universities which would have benefitted the domestic learners. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all. The Australian majority are not aware of the numerous contributions; both culturally and socially, which are advanced by foreign students. It is against this backdrop that international students have often been perceived as a liability contrary to the truth.

Recommendation: The state as well as the commonwealth government should launch an aggressive awareness crusade in order to educate and enlighten the public on the immense contribution of international students in Australia. The public should be made to dispel the myth that international students do lower the standards of education. They should instead be informed of the checks and balances which are often put in place to ensure proper educational standards are maintained. Further, the awareness campaign should not just focus on the economic benefit of international students alone. It should be noted that international students also contribute immensely to both cultural and social aspects (Li & Kaye, 1998).

Conclusion

In summing up this report, it is important to note that international students in Melbourne and Australia in general are usually faced with several challenges in spite of the growing statistics captured from 2002. Although Melbourne and other institutions of higher learning in Australia remain to be centres of excellence, there is a lot which remain to be done in regard to the well being of international students. Some of the challenges noted such as security, accommodation and community awareness can best be resolved by adopting the proposed recommendations. This is necessary bearing in mind that the enrolment rate of international students continues to rise each year and if the emerging challenges are not tackled effectively, it may compound to intolerable levels.

References

Australian Government (2010). Statistics. Web.

Australian International Education Foundation (1998).1997 Survey of International Students Studying in Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

Baker, M., Roberson, F., Taylor, A. and Doube, L. (1996). The Labour Market Effects of Overseas students. Canberra: AGPS.

Baldwin, D. (1997). The concept of security. Review of International studies, 23(1), 526.

International Development Program Australia, IDP Education Australia (2007). Overseas Student Health Cover. Web.

Li, R. and Kaye, M. (1998). Understanding overseas students concerns and problems. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 20(1), 41-50.

Marginson et al. (2010). International Student Security. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ong D (2009). The International Students Handbook: Living and Studying in Australia. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.

State Government of Victoria (2010). Protection for International Students. Web.

Victorian Government (2008). International Education Statistics. Web.

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