Mumbai: Amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia last week, India and Australia struck an agreement to make the exchange of students easier for both countries. However, while both countries are trying to make migration easier between each other, reports have surfaced that some Australian Universities have banned applications of students from certain Indian states over visa fraud issues.
With reports stating that Federation University in Victoria and Western Sydney University in New South Wales have joined the list of Australian universities banning students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India's first international campus, Deakin University, has allayed concerns.
Ravneet Pawha, the Vice President and the South Asian CEO of Deakin University Australia said in a statement, “There may be a few universities that have taken this deterrent stance in terms of intake of students from specific regions of India but that doesn’t speak for all universities.”
Pawha claims that the most unfortunate part is that genuine applicants end up paying a price because of those who default, “The absence of a quality and compliance team that could help segregate the genuine applicants to ensure they are enabled to go forward is very vital.”
“They may have also done this because they do not have a proper team to oversee compliance, quality and assurance checks that could help filter out the genuine applications that conform to due diligence and norms,” asserts Pawha.
While comparing other regions of India, Pawha adds that “the volume of applications for studies across the globe is very high from certain states. In such cases, we must remember that different universities have different strategies for intake and have a different framework of guidelines governing the application procedure.”
The Free Press Journal had previously published responses from the Australia High Commission on May 27 detailing how the AHC expects providers to act when there are difficulties with the integrity of student applications.
In addition to AHC, the FPJ has also spoken to Indian students and agents who have urged Australian institutions to reverse the decision to suspend recruiting from North Indian regions, arguing that the measure is discriminatory.
The scenario at Deakin University
According to Pawha, “As of now, Deakin University currently does not have any policy which restricts students from Punjab and Gujarat or for that matter any state of India from applying to the University. Few universities may have come up with this policy and they might have done this within their rights and discretion.”
Pawha asserts that Deakin has a very strong team in place which looks after due diligence in terms of reviewing applications as per quality and assurance checks to ensure compliance with guidelines stipulated by the university.
About Indian students in Australian universities
Speaking of Indian students, Pawha Claims that, “ India it is the hotspot of international student recruitment even now and this trend is prevalent not just in Australia but across universities in the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand. A primary factor that has led to this is unmistakably the fact that the number of Chinese students going to different universities across the globe has declined which used to be the number one source of international students.”
As far as Australia is concerned, Pawha stated, “All institutions are stepping up their efforts of inviting quality students from India through all academic and industrial channels as well as agency networks to reach out to prominent institutes, schools etc in India.”
Speaking about the developments at Deakin University International Branch Campus in India, Pawha stated that a lot of work is being done, and announcements about the campus, eligibility and applications for students, faculty recruitment, and other topics will be made shortly. However, the employment of administrative and academic staff is scheduled to begin in October. It is planned to commence operations at the start of the academic year 2024, and preparations are being made.
