Ease visa restrictions for India, China - Australian varsities

Melbourne: Beleaguered Australian universities have come together to
plead for easing of visa restrictions for students from India and
China.

The two most populous countries in the world provide the vast bulk of
international students to Australia. There has been a significant drop
in students from India putting many self-funded Australian
universities and other higher education providers in deep financial
crisis.

Though the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)
recently eased the visa norms for India and 37 other countries, a body
representing Australian universities want more relaxations to save the
third largest export of the country.

There has been a call to revamp the Assessment Level system which
decides the key requirements like financials and English Language
requirements for the international students interested in Australian
education.

Currently, students from India and China are classified under
Assessment Level 3 and 4. The visa requirements become stringent as
the level goes up.

"Broadly, the extraordinary burden placed on high quality university
students from Assessment Level 3 and 4 countries, particularly in
terms of financial proof, is critically prohibitive to the ongoing
sustainability of the international education industry," Universities
Australia (UA) said in a submission to the Knight Review of Student
Visa Program.

The submission suggests varied Assessment Levels within countries like
China and India.

The need for selective Assessment Levels has been made as "in India
and China if high rates of fraud and non-compliance exist in Punjab
and Fujian respectively, then they should attract a much higher
assessment level compared to other regions within those large
countries", UA argued in the submission to the review body.

The Universities Australia has blamed "Commonwealth" agencies for not
acting in time to prevent fraudulent practices even though "the triple
digit growth in 572 visas from Nepal and India (Punjab) was very
obvious" in 2009-10. The subclass 572 visas were granted to students
enrolled in vocational courses like hairdressing and cookery. IANS