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Why some Australian universities are rejecting applications of students from 5 Indian states

Certain universities are no longer processing applications coming from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP, Gujarat and J&K citing ‘fraudulent documents’, high dropout rates as reasons.

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New Delhi: A number of universities in Australia have decided to place restrictions on applications of Indian students from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir over alleged submission of fraudulent documents and high rate of dropouts.

Federation University in Victoria and Western Sydney University in New South Wales were the latest to decide not to take in Indian students from certain states.

Earlier this year, Australian media reports had named Victoria University, Edith Cowan University, University of Wollongong, Torrens University and Southern Cross University as restricting applications of Indian students, particularly from the states of Punjab and Haryana.

The fresh restrictions by the two universities come at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just concluded a diplomatic visit to Australia.

According to reports in the Australian media, the nation’s Department of Home Affairs, in charge of the student visa programme, deems one in four applications by Indian students as “fraudulent” or “non-genuine”. The department told a federal parliamentary inquiry last week that the rejection rate for applications from India is 24.3 per cent, the highest since 2012.

Education consultants as well as Australian universities believe the reason behind the high rejection of student visa applications is the increasing number of unscrupulous agents aiding students and surging rates of dropouts from universities.

The Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) — a grouping of agents who recruit students on behalf of Australian education and training institutions — slammed the apparent blacklisting of students from certain Indian states as “discriminatory”.

In a letter sent Thursday to Australian university representatives — which ThePrint has accessed — the association said, “The assumption that all students from certain parts of India are ‘high risk’ is grossly unfair and discriminatory… One India and one policy should be the way forward.”  

In the letter, the AAERI further offered to train education consultants on the required ethics in order to prevent fraudulent practices. “We want to encourage universities to use only AAERI members for their recruitment activities,” the association said.

In a communication to ThePrint, the Australian High Commission in India said that they were unaware of restrictions being imposed by Australian universities on Indian students.

“Australian universities have the authority to make their own decisions on recruitment or admission, which may affect their intake from certain regions. The Australian High Commission is not aware of any institutions that currently restrict access for students from these regions,” the communication read.

“The Australian government does not place bans on applicants from specific regions to apply to study in Australia — nor does the Australian government have the authority to advise or instruct institutions, such as universities, to ban applicants from certain regions,” it added.


Also Read: Australia, India to seek closer economic ties, critical minerals cooperation


‘Hard decision’

Federation University on 19 May issued a letter to education consultants in India stating that “the university has observed a significant increase in the proportion of visa applications being refused from some Indian regions by the Department of Home Affairs”.

ThePrint has accessed a copy of the communication.

“It is our assessment that refusal rates from certain regions in north India are unlikely to reduce in the foreseeable future. We understand that a visa rejection can significantly impact an applicant’s plan to study abroad, and we want to mitigate any potential negative consequences for an applicant. Therefore, we have made the hard decision to stop processing applications for students from the following regions (Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir),” added the letter.

In an exclusive interaction with ThePrint in April, Professor Duncan Bentley, vice-chancellor of Federation University, had indicated that the varsity’s administration had been asked to go over the applications of Indian students from these states with a fine tooth-comb.

“Every month, the Department of Home Affairs shares statistics and data with universities on visa applications. The Indian student population in Australia is the second highest and the slightest change in trends is starkly visible,” he had said.

He added that the department had asked the university to be more alert while accepting applications from Punjab and Haryana in particular.

“While we do not discriminate against applicants, we were alerted regarding the increasing trend of visa rejection from a certain region of India,” the professor pointed out.

The letter by Western Sydney University sent to Indian consultants on 8 May stated that “a large number of Indian students who commenced study in 2022 intakes have not remained enrolled, resulting in a significantly high attrition rate. The regions within India that have been identified as presenting the highest attrition risk are Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat”.

It added that “due to the urgency of this matter, the university has decided to pause recruitment from these regions in India, effective immediately”, adding that the suspension was for the months of May and June 2023.

“Recruitment from all other regions in India continues as usual,” the letter said.

‘Quality & compliance’ check is key

Not all Australian universities have turned their backs on Indian students, however.

University of Wollongong and Southern Cross University, which were named in Australian media reports as being among the universities that had placed restrictions on Indian students from certain states, issued statements last month denying placing such restrictions.

Deakin University, which is set to start a campus in Gujarat, told ThePrint in a communication that though it has not put any restrictions on Indian students from certain states, other Australian universities may have done so in the absence of a “quality and compliance team”.

Ravneet Pawha, vice-president (global alliances) and CEO (South Asia) of Deakin University, stated: “We must remember that different universities have different strategies for intake and have a different framework of guidelines governing the application procedure. There are a lot of guidelines that must be adhered to beyond the academic guidelines… a quality and compliance team that could help segregate genuine applicants… is very vital.”

A problem for genuine applicants

The number of Indian students flocking to Australia has increased post the Covid pandemic for various reasons.

By July 2022, up to 96,000 Indian students were studying in the nation, forming the second-largest group of foreign students after China, a report in The Hindu stated last year.

Australian media reports stated this month that the nation was “on track for its biggest annual intake of Indian students across universities and vocational courses”.

The surge is being credited to the Australian government’s recent move to extend post-study work visas — from two years to four years for different educational degrees — due to shortage of skilled workers in several fields.

“Another reason why students have started flocking to Australian universities is that they now need to pay only six months’ fee in advance and there is no need to pay for living expenses upfront,” said Nirmal Chawla from Chandigarh-based career counselling company Connect Overseas.

Amritsar-based overseas education consultant Chitresh Dhawan told ThePrint that the alleged submission of fraudulent documents for visas had created a problem for genuine applicants.

“In 2020-21, the Australian Department of Home Affairs uncovered over 600 cases in which forged documents were used to obtain education visas to Australia. These involved students from Punjab and Haryana and made the universities wary of applicants from these states,” he said.

In addition to this, the trend of students dropping out of college early to take up blue-collared jobs has the authorities concerned.

Shalini Singh, a homemaker based out of Jalandhar, said Australia was gaining popularity among parents who wanted their children to move abroad.

“It has become increasingly common for middle-class parents to send their child to Australia with just enough money to get by for the first semester of studies, after which they are on their own. They are thus pushed to pick up blue-collared jobs,” she told ThePrint.

“Often, these students are supported by their familiars (people they know) to look for means of employment. Young boys and girls work 10-14 hours per day for minimum wage,” she added.

In the wake of such adverse news and the ensuing restrictions by universities, students like Robin Singh from Punjab’s Amritsar, who genuinely want to gain higher education in Australia, are suffering.

The 23-year-old had applied for an MBA studies programme in Victoria University in March this year, but was rejected.

Speaking to ThePrint over phone, he said: “I really wanted to study in Australia because the programme offered all the skills of my liking. I had similar grades and as good an application as that of my friends who had applied in (Australian) universities which hadn’t announced restrictions (on students from certain states). My friends got through but my application was rejected.”

Singh will now have to wait another year to fulfil his Australian dream.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)


Also Read: ‘Won’t accept elements that harm India-Australia ties’: Modi vows action against temple vandalism


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