Post the second India-Australia Virtual Summit held on March 21, 2022, the governments of both the countries have initiated measures to extend their skill and education based relation through recognition of educational qualifications. On March 29, 2022, Study Gold Coast, an educational consultant in Southport, hosted a destination showcase event in New Delhi. The event was supported by Study Queensland, an education and training unit by the Queensland government.
Present at the event were Matthew Johnston, minister counsellor, Australian Government department of education, skills and employment, Jennie Tax, head of partnership and trade study, Gold Coast, Remya Mohankrishnan, head, international education and training (South Asia) Queensland Government, Ashini Malhotra, regional marketing manager, Griffith University, Susant Sareen, student recruitment manager, Bond University, Monty Singh, vice president, South Cross University, among others.
According to Tax, Queensland is ready to provide opportunities to Indian students to create a skilled workforce. “Pre-Covid, we had 36,000 international students at Gold Coast, with India standing at the third position. Now, we have about 17,000 international students, but post Covid, it is growing quickly,” Tax said. Gold Coast is looking forward to 20,000 students by the end of this year, and by the end of 2023, it is aiming to enrol 36,000 students,” Tax added.
However, the biggest revenue generating sector of Queensland is the tourism industry with a contribution of $4.7 billion to the annual economy of $33 billion. Speakers at the destination showcase program stated that job opportunities for students are mostly catered in the tourism, aviation, transportation, hospitality, and hotel management industries.
“Apart from education, Queensland is also focusing on other industries such as advanced agriculture, manufacturing, bio medicine, among others. Green hydrogen has been one of the important areas that the Queensland government is focusing on,” Mohankrishnan said. She further added that it will create more career opportunities for the students.
In the recent virtual summit, the leaders welcomed the extension of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF) to collaborate in the fields of science, technology and research, and the commitment to build on the 2021 India Australia Circular Economy Hackathon. With regard to that, Study Gold Coast emphasised on enhancement of research partnership programs in fields including governance, forestry, health, education, information technology, and management.
Scholarships are available for international students through the collaborating universities which include Griffith University, Bond University and Southern Cross University. To enrol in the programs, students need to have a Visa and apply in the course to get into Study Gold Coast programs. The event unveiled that students who will be a part of the Study Gold Coast between June 1 and September 30, 2022, will get a 500 dollars concession as a travel grant.
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