Student numbers decline: India drops by nearly 50 per cent

Latest statistics from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has shown a decline in Indian student visa applications by almost half.  

The Age reports that during the period from July to October 31 of last year, Indian student visa applications dropped by 46 per cent when compared to the same time in 2008.

The figure follows the stabbing murder of an Indian student in a Melbourne park last week which has seen Indian authorities issue a warning to all nationals studying in Australia, advising them to “be alert of their own security while moving around.”

But president of the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria Vasan Srinivasan said he did not believe it was a racist attack due to an Australian man also falling victim to a random stabbing on the same night.

Srinivasan plans to hold a media conference in India to endorse Victoria as a safe study destination and ensure the event of last week is not perceived as a race-based attack.

Indian student visa applications weren’t the only ones to fall, with the data showing an overall drop in applications year-on-year by 26 per cent. Applications from Korea, Brazil and US dropped by 20 per cent.

English Australia executive director Sue Blundell told the Adventure and Backpacker Industry Conference in November that the education industry is the country’s third largest export industry, larger than tourism and second only to iron ore and coal.

By Alice Terlikowski  ·  January 8th, 2010 at 11:04 am

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Comments


  1. Macca
    9 Jan 10
    1:56 pm

    2. When Indian students pay to come here they get the short end of the stick. They can only afford accommodation in the poorer suburbs where crime rates are high and they can only manage jobs late at night because of their study.

    In the 12 months to June 2006, 1082 attacks on Indians in Victoria were reported to police – an assault rate of 1700 in every 100,000. A study in 2009 found many assaults go unreported to police as a fear of a victims parent demand them to return home.

    One report show Indians living in Victoria are 2 1/2 times more likely than non-Indians to be beaten up or knifed. Why ? The most contentious theory – the one that has caused such damage to Australian – Indian relations is that Indian students are targeted by “Romper Stomer” style teenage thugs looking to reassert control over suburbs newly populated by Sikhs and Hindus; an atavistic and violent response by racists sick of Indians working in every service station, every pub, every cab they frequent.

    Another theory is that Indian students are “soft targets”, “walking ATM’s” carrying laptops, mobile phones, iPods and jewellery as they travel public transport between university, late night work shifts and onto home in the poorer suburbs.

    Others argue the Indian Government and media are whipping up a storm because they are angry that Australia refused to sell uranium to Indian

    The need now is to develop a public safety plan applicable to everyone. There should also be a focus on the international students related to work place exploitation. The only way to gain the confidence of students and strengthen international ties is to act, not to blame.

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