MIKE RYAN
Executive Director,
Perth Education City

It's only in Western Australia that you're likely to find a wide-ranging diversity of intercontinental students. Besides world-class universities that is, observes Ivor Vaz

If you're an Indian student and contemplating where to study in Australia, you could begin by asking yourself two basic questions. "One: Where in Australia am I going to get that truly international experience?" and "Two: Where can I find the best opportunities in the job market after I finish my education?" Both questions merit one screaming riposte - Perth, Western Australia.

One look at the table alongside will illustrate Point 1. Out of a total of 35,353 visa enrolments for students in WA in 2007, only 1,474 happen to be Indian students - that's a mere 4.1 per cent. Compare that with 19,780 Indian students out of 183,099 in New South Wales (10.8 percent), 33,953 out of 133,454 in Victoria (25.5 per cent), and 2,700 out of 23,327 in South Australia (11.5 per cent). According to AEI Student Visa data retrieved this April for 2007, when combined Chinese and Indian student enrolments make up a high percentage of the total student populations of VIC (48.8%), SA (46.1%) and NSW (37.8%). In comparison India and China only make up 17.2% of WA's student enrolments. What the statistics imply is that in states like NSW or SA, you're likely to encounter an Indian student out of every ten you meet. In VIC the numbers get chillingly claustrophobic - one of every four students in your class is most certainly going to be Indian. And you'll be asking yourself why on earth did you travel ten thousand miles from Bangalore or Baroda or Bhatinda, to rub shoulders with a bunch of buddies from your own backyard!

Says Mike Ryan, Executive Director, Perth Education City: "Student diversity is what WA prides itself on. Continually, our strategy was to ask ourselves what we wanted the Perth student cohort to look like in five years, ten years, and 15 years from now. Among many things, one of the key principles we identified was the need to maintain a healthy diversity regarding the country of origin of our students. So we invested money and resources in developing markets that take time to mature. For instance, we invested in Europe; by no means a homogenous country, with its various nationalities. We concentrated on France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Czech, Slovakia and Turkey - and that brought in plenty of diversity.  We also invested in South America; and that too is paying rich dividends. Then again, we didn't neglect our traditional markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Thailand. I am pleased to tell you that we are growing in 10 of our 15 target markets - sensational by any standard."

What this also implies is that Perth, as opposed to Melbourne or Sydney, is in a perfect position to grow further, especially out of China and India, the world's two biggest source markets for international students. Ryan continues: "The point of PEC's exercise was, to use an analogy; to cultivalte a garden with numerous varieties of roses - by bringing in students from all over the world. And because of the hard work we have done in recent years, we have the capacity to grow out of these two huge markets."

Conversely, here's another statistic worthy of note. At the end of 2007, seven of Perth's top 30 source markets for students were from Europe! Who would believe that in 2007, Perth had more students from countries like Brazil and Switzerland than from India? Here's where WA stands apart from the rest of Australia; diversity is its key sell. Explains Ryan: "We want more Indian and Chinese students. But we don't want to just grow from just these markets. As a matter of fact we are booming from both India and China. In fact, our growth out of India has increased dramatically, over 100 per cent."

Another factor in Perth's favour is WA's booming economy. According to current economic indicators, as in June 2008, WA had an unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent as against Australia's 4.2 per cent. Out of 19,934 job vacancies in Australia, WA had 3,700, over 18.5 per cent. When you consider that WA comprises just 10 per cent of the country's population, it's a huge statistic. WA also wins the race against the rest of Australia in terms of full time earnings. The average salary in WA is A$ 1,260 per week and A$ 64,525 per year as against Australia's A$ 1,124 per week and A$ 58,448 per year. Even students stand to earn between A$ 20-26 per hour.

"There is good money to be made. At the moment, our economy is providing lots of attraction - both for students who are looking to earn part time and those who are looking for jobs after graduation. In fact, I can cite you countless instances of students being headhunted even before they graduate,“ summates Ryan.