India, China propel foreign students market in Australia

September 24th, 2009 LONDON - A recent report on the 'Patterns of Higher Education Institutions in the UK' has found that students from China and India have played a major role in almost doubling the number of foreign students at UK universities in the last decade. According to figures from universities in the UK, some 2,29,640 students were recruited from outside the European Union in 2007, compared to 1,17,290 students in 1998.

September 6th, 2009 TORONTO - Canada should launch vigorous 'education diplomacy' to woo Indian students, says an expert on Canada-India relations. Ryan M. Touhey, a professor who has authored a study titled "A new direction for the Canada-India relationship", says India is a huge education market for Canada and Ottawa should lose no time in wooing Indian students.

August 21st, 2009 SYDNEY - Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard will visit India later this month to take its relationship with New Delhi to "a higher level". Gillard will leave for a five-day trip Aug 30, paving the way for a visit by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd later in the year, his first to India since coming to power in 2007, The Age reported Friday.

July 22nd, 2009 PHUKET - Ahead of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna's visit to Australia Aug 5, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Wednesday assured him that his government was doing everything possible to ensure the safety of nearly 100,000 Indian students in that country.

July 15th, 2009 SYDNEY - Thirty-six international students, including some Indians, have been taken into immigration confinement for allegedly breaching study visa conditions in Australia. Most of the student visa holders being held are from China, but others come from Pakistan and India, The Australian reports.

June 8th, 2009 MELBOURNE J - Peter Varghese, Australia's top spy has been appointed the new high commissioner to India. Varghese will take over from John McCarthy, who will retire from the post in August.

June 8th, 2009 SYDNEY - In an apparent move to placate India, Australia Monday named Indian-origin Peter Varghese as the next envoy to India. Varghese is considered the country's top spy as the head of the Office of National Assessments (ONA).

June 4th, 2009 CANBERRA - China has joined India in asking Australia to provide improved protection for foreign students after a series of violent racist assaults on Indian students Down Under. "There are over 130,000 Chinese students in Australia.

June 4th, 2009 MELBOURNE - With China expressing concern for the safety of Chinese students studying in Australia, the embattled A$15.5 billion overseas student industry down under is bracing for rough times. The Australian government and university managements are already in damage control over a series of violent attacks on Indian students in various metropolitan centres.

June 3rd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Practising racial tolerance and treating foreign students to some good old Punjabi hospitality - that's how the students of Panjab University (PU) are setting an example amid reports of alleged racist attacks on Indians in Australia. Nearly a dozen students from countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, Canada, Iran and Nepal participated in the lunch Tuesday that was organised by Students' Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), a students' political party.

June 3rd, 2009 WELLINGTON - Indian students based in Australia may opt to go to neighbouring New Zealand if the racially motivated attacks Down Under don't stop. Education New Zealand chief executive Robert Stevens said he had been in touch with the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise office in India yesterday, urging the office to market New Zealand and Australia as "totally different societies".

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid concerns over safety of Indian students in Australia after a series of racist attacks on some of them, an Australian university has fielded cricketer Brett Lee, who is very popular in India, to assure the Indian student community of a safe and secure environment to study in his country. Faced with the outcry in India over attacks on Indian students in Australia, Australian universities are working overtime to give assurances students and their parents.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Monday said that India was in touch with Australia over protests by Indian students alleging racist attacks and expressed the hope that their problems will get "sorted out".

May 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In the wake of the attacks on Indian students in the country, an Australian police officer is to travel to India to brief prospective students on avoiding street violence in Australia, media reports said. Police community liaison officer Senior Constable Victor Robb said that his advice would mainly cover "safety strategy tips", Radio Australia reported Thursday.

January 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian students going abroad for their higher studies cost the country a foreign exchange (forex) outflow of $10 billion annually, according to an industry lobby report released here Monday. The report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said despite subsidised engineering and management education, about 500,000 students choose to go abroad every year.