10 Jul ‘No fixed timeline’ for the return of international students, says Education Minister

International students enrolled at Australian universities who are stuck overseas will have to wait a bit longer as it is still uncertain when will Australia’s borders reopen.

When will borders re-open for students?

The Minister has said the preconditions to reopening the borders for international students was returning to normalcy within Australia which includes reopening for internal borders and face-to-face classes resuming for students who are in Australia and  info about return of international students from Australia, Australian national university.

“Preconditions to this happening include the reopening of internal state and territory borders within Australia, as well as the return to on-campus learning for the benefit of domestic students and the international students who are already in Australia.,” Mr Tehan said.

“Robust health, quarantine, border and provider protocols also need to be in place,” he added. 

Has the pilot program to bring back international students been delayed?

While the Department of Education, Skills and Employment has confirmed to SBS Hindi that at this stage, it would not delay international student pilots in other states, Canberra-based Australian National University (ANU) who launched a nation-leading joint pilot program with the University of Canberra (UC) to bring back a cohort of 350-continuing international students has announced it has postponed their plan. 

“The international student ‘Safe Passage’ pilot program developed by The Australian National University and the University of Canberra in consultation with the ACT and Federal Governments, has been postponed,” the universities said in a joint media release.

“Given the recent COVID developments, the universities have decided to postpone the well-advanced pilot plan to return 350 continuing students to Canberra campuses in late July until there is a clearer picture around the COVID trajectory,” they said.

Professor Paddy Nixon, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra said, “Given the ever-evolving circumstance of this global pandemic, we think it best to press pause on our plans to return a small number of our valued continuing international students who contribute so much to the vibrancy of our city and our campus.”

“International students are important to Australia and we want to ensure we remain a preferred international study destination,” Mr Tehan told SBS Hindi.

“Across government, planning is well underway on conditions that will allow for the return of international students.

However, ‘there is no fixed timeline for the return of international students’, Mr Tehan said.