Griffith U: Oz "Crook Slum"?

[Dickie Billericay]

Australia's Reputation Damaged by Treatment of Foreign Students

By Madelene Pearson

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's reputation has been damaged by its treatment of overseas students, its third-biggest source of foreign income, said the head of an inquiry.

The number of foreign students in Australia has risen to 475,000 from 250,000 in 2005, Bruce Baird, a former Australian lawmaker, said today on Ten Network Holdings Ltd. television.

Australia's government appointed Baird in August to review the Education Services for Overseas Students Act to improve support for students and strengthen regulation of the sector, which was worth A$15.5 billion ($13.4 billion) in 2008. Violent attacks on Indian students in Melbourne this year and the quality of education at vocational colleges in Australia have stoked concerns in India and strained relations between the two nations.

"Certainly our brand has been damaged significantly in India, you've only got to see the press clips and see the very bad coverage we've had," Baird said on Ten television. "It hasn't been helpful."

India is Australia's No. 2 market for international students, worth A$2.4 billion in 2008, up from A$1.6 billion a year earlier. China is the nation's No. 1 market, the Australian government said in a June release.

"We've got agents who are ripping students off, offering all types of incentives at getting people here, colleges that haven't been effectively monitored and audited setting up business, teaching inadequate standards of courses" and overcrowding, Baird said. "People are concerned, students are not being well treated in many cases."

Australia's Victoria state, its second-most populous, is safe for overseas students, Premier John Brumby said last month during a visit to India. The state will pass a law against hate crimes and spend more money on policing, he said in Delhi on Sept. 24.

Baird's review will provide an interim report by November, with a final report expected in early 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Aug. 8.

It's "an important industry -- it needs to be protected," Baird said today.

Wow, colleges that haven't been effectively monitored and audited, teaching inadequate standards of courses??? Sounds like a bunch of degree mills to me!

Too bad there's not some sort of degree mill "expert" kind of guy in Australia who can do something about this scandalous situation. Maybe some guy with a receding hairline and a PhD who has lots of gay friends in Oregon and Illinois...I dunno...maybe one of these guys...