Why some australian universities are rejecting applications of students from 5 indian states

Why some australian universities are rejecting applications of students from 5 indian states

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.