Berufsbildung in Australien von Indern für den Erwerb von Aufenthaltgenehmigungen missbraucht?

Die Berufsbildungsbranche Australiens ist einer der größten "Ausbildungsversorger" für indische Studenten, steht aber in dem Ruf, für den Erwerb einer dauerhaften Aufenthaltsgenehmigung missbraucht zu werden. Die australische Regierung prüft aktuell diesen schnell wachsenden Sektor.


Australian vocational education under review

The Australian government is conducting an audit of its rapidly burgeoning vocational sector, one of the biggest education providers for Indian students but which is also widely believed to be misused for gaining permanent residency (PR) status.

Policymakers and educationists believe that the over 1,000 vocational institutes in the country, of which 400 alone are in Victoria state, have become moneymaking machines, many of whom compromise on the quality of education by hiring agents who are given hefty commissions.

"Students are trusting you in a dream. We need quality control. It's high time the education department carries out physical checks for their education worthiness," said Catherine Carrick, managing director of Carrick, one of the largest vocational institutes in this Australian city with several campuses.

In the last two years alone, 60 such institutes have opened in Victoria state alone offering just a cookery course.

The criticism against these institutes is that agents who are working overtime to recruit students for a hefty commission - that can be as high as 30 percent - were doing it to sell education so that students can get their PR status in Australia. Anyone can apply for a PR status after staying for two years and citizenship four years later after completing the required criteria.

Ravi Bhatia, the CEO of Primus Telecom who is a public figure and has been active in the student community, says there is a correlation between student enrolments and the assaults against them that have followed.

"Students have to work in the night doing odd jobs at low wages to save money for house rent and food. At times they do more than one job. They live in poor suburbs of the city considered unsafe by many and work late hours to fend for themselves. Some, therefore become easy targets," he says.

"Copycat crimes have followed too. Students in the vocational courses are on loan shark rates. There is a shortage of housing and long hours of miserable accommodation."

"Why in the life of me would an educated man want to do come here to do a cookery course to learn and bake a cake? These institutes have become PR factories," he exclaims.

Indian student enrolments in vocational education and training (VET) shot up by a whopping 160 percent in 2006 and by nearly 94 percent in 2007. In 2008, there were 52,381 Indian students enrolled in these programmes, the highest number from any country, as per the data compiled by the Australian Education International.

In comparison, the growth in the number of students pursuing higher studies from India remained five percent both in 2006 and 2007.

"There are no filters for assessing the suitability of such students who come into Australia. Their language skills are poor and they take a while to adapt. So, chances of them getting caught up in strange and sometimes, dangerous situations is real," said a senior Indian high commission official.

Jacinta Allan, minister for skills and workforce participation with the Victorian government, said checks were not carried out because of the growing demand for education in Australia putting a strain on the regulatory framework.

"Sixteen private institutions had been identified and are currently being reviewed," said Allan.

A recent appraisal carried out by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship across all applicant countries found Indian students placed in the high risk group for visa breaches along with Bangladeshis and Cambodians, a development that may result in tightening of immigration rules.

"Based on a review of the student visa programme, they are now clubbed alongside Bangladeshis and Cambodians as a 'level-four' risk, which is the second highest risk category," Peter Vardos, a senior official told IANS.

Under the new measure, Indians seeking education in Australia, will have to prove they have enough funds to survive for the duration of their study and pass more stringent English language tests.

Australia's education industry has boomed in recent years to become the country's third largest export earner after coal and iron ore, generating about $12 billion in revenue in 2008.