NEW DELHI: After a continuous slump of two years as a direct consequence of pandemic, the number of Indian students flying to Australia for higher education has started gaining momentum.
Also, a new trend is being observed – the proportion of younger Indians travelling out to pursue an undergraduate degree is rising. As per the latest data released by the Australian Government, the country has recorded around 52,000 new admissions from India in 2022. It is around 7 per cent higher when compared to the headcount from the pandemic year of 2021.
While more Indians are travelling out, the number of students from China has dropped significantly, mainly due to the country’s zero-Covid policy and subsequent travel restrictions.
With the new enrolments, the number of Indians and Chinese in various stages of higher education in Australia stands at 90,168 and 1,47,319 respectively. For China, the figure is the lowest in the last five years.
Apart from the rising number, there is an interesting shift in academic trends. The number of Indians travelling out to pursue an undergraduate degree has relatively increased. Earlier, majority of students traveled only after completing graduation in India, to pursue higher degree.
One of the key factors for this new trend is the fact that Australia recognises the Class XII scores of Indian students. Also, there is no entrance test to join a degree after Grade 12. This presents a favourable environment for Indian students who want to pursue undergraduate degree in Australia, according to Vicechancellor and President, Professor S Bruce Dowton of Macquarie University, who spoke to a leading national daily
