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‘Australian universities lowering standard to accept more Nepali and Indian students’

Sydney Opera House. Photo: Flickr/Hai Linh Truong

Kathmandu, May 9

Australian media have reported concerns about the lowering standard of Australian universities as they shifted their focus to Nepali and Indian students.

As the number of Chinese students is flattening, the universities are filling the revenue gaps by attracting more Nepali and Indian students, who generally have lower standard, including that of English language, than average international students, according to media reports.

“In 2017–18, one in every 1500 inhabitants of Nepal emigrated to Australia,” ABC reports, “In an era of strict immigration controls, that is an astonishing number for two countries so far apart, with no common language, heritage or ethnicity.”

“Over the five years to mid 2018, one in every 500 Nepalis emigrated to Australia — and that’s in net terms, after deducting those who returned. In 2017–18, little Nepal became Australia’s third largest source of migrants after India and China.”

According to recent data, universities earn 1.6 billion dollars a year by welcoming over 28,000 students. The earnings from China and India stand at 11 billion and 3.8 billion dollars respectively.

ABC adds, “Deregulation has allowed universities to selectively lower their standards to bring in more fee-paying foreign students, even when they fail to meet the thresholds for English language skills or academic achievement. And put under financial pressure by the Commonwealth’s funding cuts, some universities have done so.”

Some of the universities have also begun opening colleges exclusively dedicated to overseas students.

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