More Asian parents choose to send their kids to study in Canada as Australia reexamines visa policies
August 2, 2011
Australian officials are currently revising their visa policies, so parents, especially in China and India, are choosing to send their children to study abroad in other English-speaking countries, and Canada is high on the list.
"Canada is inundated by international students and numbers are getting out of control," Rod Jones, chief executive of Navitas, an international education provider, told The Australian. "Canada is benefitting from students who are turning away from Australia and the U.K. because of government changes in visa policy for foreign students."
Navitas reported that its Australian colleges saw a 14 percent decline in enrollment as compared to the 2010 June-July semester, and the British campuses' numbers dropped 16 percent. The news source reports that Australia's international enrollment may be waning due to the high Australian dollar as well as confusion about visa policies.
Nine MSN News reports that the Australian federal government is actually investigating visa policies to find ways to better manage immigration risk and fight breaches and misuse of the student visa program. Regardless of where a student ends up studying abroad, an international calling card will keep them connected to their families and friends back home while they are away.