While talking to a media house over the life of international students in Australia, its education minister Dan Tehan said, "It’s the premium on quality education and excellence as well as the fact that we welcome international students to a friendly and multicultural environment that makes Australia one of the most preferred destinations for Indian students."
The minister added that Australian universities provided safe and comfortable student accommodation and great research facilities relevant to students from all over the world.
The number of Indian students studying in Australia has grown by 71% since 2014, to 107,673 students enrolled to study last year (2018-19), according to a report released by the Council of International Education in Australia on Thursday.
Mr. Tehan, who is on a visit to New Delhi, said "Indian students contributed close of $5.5 billion to the Australian economy through higher education and the country represents a growing opportunity." There has been a 39% growth in the number of Indian student enrolments in Australia in 2019 over the previous year, according to an official in the Australian High Commission in Delhi. Indians are the second-largest group of foreign students after the Chinese.
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Mr. Tehan added that a very consistent 'post-study work policy' has made higher education in Australia very attractive to Indian students. “Our post-study work policy has always been in place and recently we have increased this to up to four years for some destinations,” the minister said though Australia had a pathway to permanent residence available for international students which were better than many other countries, it was not the same as post-study work rights. “We have also introduced some very attractive scholarships for international students who choose destinations outside of Melbourne, Brisbane & Sydney.”
He emphasized that the two countries share strong cultural, sporting, and historical ties, and strengthening engagement through higher education will benefit both countries.