A push to welcome international students back to Victoria reignites hope
International students could be making their way back to Australia by the end of May, after a Victorian Government proposal called for a new quarantine hub to be built for returning students.
BY ISAAC CHONG
International students could be making their way back to Australia by the end of May, after a Victorian Government proposal called for a new quarantine hub to be built for returning students.
Acting Premier James Merlino proposed an individual hotel quarantine scheme, beginning May 24, which has already garnered support from Monash University and other tertiary institutions.
In a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Mr Merlino called for 120 international students, actors, and migrant workers to be accepted into Victoria each week in addition to the current international passenger cap of 1000 arrivals.
However, international students have not been supported by the federal government in the past, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison telling more than 700,000 of them "it's time to go home" at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proposal came in response to a significant drop in total international student enrolments by 10.5 per cent in semester one 2021 compared to semester one 2019.
A statement by a Monash University spokesperson said the university is “pleased” by the state’s approach in communicating a thorough action plan that will provide international students with a safe progression back to campus.
“Monash, alongside other universities, has provided detailed approaches in support of various potential secure-student-corridor models, whether they be hotel or student accommodation based,” the spokesperson said.
“[We will] provide students with the education, mental health, social and other pastoral care services they require throughout the lifecycle of their journey to campus.”
Monash University Bachelor of Psychology student Wongani Mataya has been studying virtually from Malawi for more than a year and is eager to make the move back to Australia, if the proposal is approved.
Mr Mataya said due to limited career opportunities in Malawi, he hopes making the trip to Australia will present him with a more prosperous future as an aspiring psychologist.
“[There are] more opportunities in Australia for me… it would seem a lot of people would be interested in seeing a psychologist especially after COVID,” Mr Mataya said.
Despite having to undergo the cost and time of hotel quarantine under the proposed scheme, Mr Mataya believes this is a small price to pay to achieve the future he desires.
“I don’t think [hotel quarantine] will be a problem because I’ve basically been isolated in one room throughout 2020,” Mr Mataya said.
“I’m taking an opportunity in Australia to build a life, and to me it’s going to be another investment no matter what.”
However, for Professional Accounting and Business Law masters student Cheng Teck Lee, the expenses involved in travelling from China to Australia has made him question whether the trip will be worth it.
While Mr Lee hopes to return to Australia, he remains sceptical about the reliability of the scheme, since the proposal remains in its early stages of planning.
“I would like to see how [the program] goes for a long period of time to see if the proposed plan is maintained properly,” Mr Lee said.
“It would also be really nice if the university is going to accommodate it.”
