International student enrolments hit record highs and staggering lows
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The University of Queensland has enrolled a record number of international students in 2021, defying predictions that closed borders and negative messaging from the Chinese government would dampen demand.
Enrolments of overseas students surged past 2019’s record to reach 18,000 at the beginning of 2021, up from 14,900 in 2020 and 16,600 at the same time in 2019.
Young people don’t want to put their lives on hold forever, says Deborah Terry.
Alex Ellinghausen
UQ has also seen a 50 per cent increase of Chinese students compared with 2020, with numbers rising from 7466 to 11,265. That is also well above 2019’s figure of 8995.
Victorian universities recently re-proposed a previously conceived plan to get international students back under a similar model used to fly in tennis players for the Australian Open. Under the proposal, universities would help pay for around 1,000 foreign students to be flown into Melbourne every two to three weeks and placed into special lockdown arrangements.
Similar plans to get international students back have been considered in various states since borders closed in March last year – and then quietly shelved. So far, only the Northern Territory has been able to bring 63 students to Australia.
But 63 students is an almost negligible number compared to how many visa holders are still stranded outside the country an estimated 30 per cent of 542,106 (or around 160,000) student visa holders were outside Australia as of January 10 2021.
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Leading public health experts have warned the Australian population is unlikely to get COVID-19 vaccinations until the end of next year without a dramatic boost in Pfizer vaccine supplies.
University of NSW epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said extra vaccine supplies were needed by September to get the general population vaccinated by May or June 2022.
“I don’t think we will vaccinate our population until the end of next year,” she said.
Public health experts have warned the Australian population will not get vaccinated until the end of next year unless Pfizer vaccine supplies are boosted by September.
Credit:Edwina Pickles
“We need to settle in for the long haul because I don’t think we will be getting significant amounts of Pfizer vaccine until next year,” he said. He said Australians were among 6.8 billion people around the world lining up to get vaccinated and the federal government’s case for getting priority was not as strong as other regions including Africa, India and Indonesia. He said it was unlikely international students would return in significant numbers until the general population, including 17 million people under the age of 50, were vaccinated.
EDWINA PICKLES/Sydney Morning Herald
Public health experts have warned the Australian population will not get vaccinated until the end of next year unless Pfizer vaccine supplies are boosted by September.
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