Attracting African Students to Australia: Opportunities to Excel
With Australia gradually learning to live with a COVID-19 recovery, the opening of international borders means Australia can once again begin exporting its largest service sector; international students in higher education. There now lies an opportunity to bring international students to Australia to commence studies in 2022, but there is also a need to become more competitive as an attractive destination after closed borders have driven prospective students away. As part of this, education providers in Australia now have a fresh chance to bring African students into the fold for both economic and soft-power gains.
The Australian Parliamentary Library valued the tertiary education sector at $37.6 billion in 2018-19 and $37.4 billion in 2019-20, highlighting the size of the industry in Australia’s economy. The 2022 QS World University Rankings notes that Australia hosts seven out of 100 top ranking universities, and 26 universities in the top 500. 2019 data from the Academic Ranking of World Universities points to Australia’s position as a tertiary education powerhouse, with the number of universities in the top 500 compared to population higher than well-established tertiary education countries such as the United States, Great Britain and Canada.
Despite this, the closure of Australia’s border with overseas countries, a lack of government support and increasing hostility between Australia and China has meant that universities have suffered more than most industries over the past two years. Research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work found that there were 40,000 job losses in tertiary education in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. This loss in work from reduced incomes from international enrolments has earmarked 2022 as an important year in reviving tertiary education.
Even with borders gradually opening in late 2021 and early 2022, there is a possibility that the tertiary education market will face the lingering effects of “long COVID”, where student agents and experts based overseas have now moved away from touting Australia as an attractive destination in lieu of courses readily offered in Canada or the United Kingdom. This recognition that Australia must now tout its education credentials globally provides an opportunity to expand this need to Africa.
With borders opening and Australian universities becoming adept with online learning, there lies an opportunity for Australia to attract African students to complete a tertiary education both in-person and online. In-person learning allows African students to be exposed to an Australian community, and Australian teachers and students with unique insights from the continent. The uptake of virtual classrooms can also act as a conduit for education for those unable to justify a physical move to Australia, running parallel with the continent’s use of mobile money networks in place of minimal credit card facilities. CDC Group - a United Kingdom-based development finance organisation - recognises that online learning is booming globally, and highlights the opportunities which online institutions such as UNICAF University currently provide throughout the continent.
Outside of tertiary education, vocational education provides practical knowledge for students looking to bring back their practical skills. IIEP-UNESCO has pushed for vocational education to be a priority in Africa, where practical training can help boost prospects in a competitive job market. Australia’s strong vocational frameworks can provide occupational health and safety (OHS) standards to train African students seeking to bring a culture of workplace safety to their country of origin. Research on OHS standards in the Southern African Development Community notes that there is no robust framework both within and between member states. Australian efforts to encourage a culture of OHS can therefore act as an attractive prospect for educational institutions to provide to African students.
Australia has a chance to not only utilise its international student capacity to financially support universities, but to grow its soft power credentials vis a vis China. Analysis from the Mail & Guardian notes that China has become the fastest growing market for international students from Africa, with over 74,000 students studying in China in 2017 compared to approximately 20,600 in 2011. ICEF notes that this has helped with China’s soft power credentials on the continent, with a number of government officials having studied in China and using their experience abroad to foster ties.
Australia has also recognised that international education acts as an effective source of soft power, with the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper recognising that the formal, informal and cultural links created by education can be used to further Australia’s global standing. By advocating for African students to join Australia’s international student community, Canberra is able to foster partnerships in government, business and society to strengthen Australia's position in the world.
Overall, the opening of borders to international students provides Australia an opportunity to reset its connections with the global community. With Australia needing to lobby students in a competitive education landscape, there lies an opportunity to bring African students into the fold. By focusing on both tertiary and vocational education, there are social, political and economic gains to be made for both Australia and Africa.
Written by Joshua Fernandez