Small number of international students to be allowed into Australia this year
A pilot plan will allow fully vaccinated international students to return to a range of universities in the Australian state of New South Wales
Seeta Bhardwa
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The Australian state of New South Wales has announced that a group of international students will be allowed to enter the state by the end of this year.
On arrival, students will be required to quarantine for two weeks in a purpose-built facility in Sydney. It is estimated that approximately 500 students will arrive by the end of 2021.
However, only students who have been fully vaccinated with vaccines that have been approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will be allowed to participate in the programme.
So far it has approved the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccinations.
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Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson welcomed the plan, stating that “nearly half of all international students in higher education remain outside Australia. Around one third of our international PhD students are also offshore, anxious to return to complete their research here. All of them will be looking to the success of the New South Wales initiative.”
“International students make a significant cultural and economic contribution to Australian life, and we look forward to a time when we can safely welcome all students back.”
New South Wales institutions participating in the pilot include the University of Technology Sydney.
Independent providers including the International College of Management Sydney, Kaplan, Navitas, RedHill and Study Group have also signed up to to be part of the pilot.
The New South Wales government has stated that the universities participating in the scheme will contact students to gauge interest in returning to Australia.
