Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia was the world’s third-largest recipient of international tertiary students.
The lifestyle, geography, institutional repute, and teaching quality have all been persistent draws. All of this came to a halt in 2020. Although the sector remains optimistic about regaining former foreign student numbers, there is a great opportunity to assess the situation, address systemic issues, and support change.
Universities around the world have stepped up their efforts to draw attention to the need for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies to address histories of exclusion, marginalization, and racism. These measures have been greatly appreciated, and their implementation has been long delayed. First Peoples, recently arrived migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, on the other hand, are underrepresented in these debates.
As being one of the world’s most ethnically, linguistically, and culturally diverse countries, Australia should be setting an example by accepting and including students from all backgrounds, whether they are long-term residents or newly arrived migrants or refugees.
The emphasis on EDI provides a chance for institutions to reconsider their work, look within, and widen their concept of how and to whom EDI policies should be applied. This task has become crucial in the light of current relocation in nations such as Afghanistan, Myanmar, and possibly Ukraine.
Furthermore, with the possibility of more climate refugees, it’s a problem that won’t go away. The exclusion of refugees from higher education around the world is the focus of a new campaign launched by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The 15by30 program aims to boost refugee participation from its current low level when just 5% of refugees globally have meaningful access to higher education.
Several refugees, including those who have spent their whole high school education in Australia on Temporary Protection Visas, are classed as international students and have no access to government support programs.
As a result, higher education is out of reach for the vast majority of refugees, with the exception of a few fortunate individuals who are awarded one of the few scholarship spots available at select colleges.
Other barriers to university access for refugees and asylum seekers include insufficient verification of their status, the inability of Australian universities to recognize existing qualifications, and problems studying in English.
The fortunate few who obtain scholarships may find university services insufficient in identifying their support requirements and comprehending the hardships they have had to overcome in order to get to university in the first place.
Welcoming Australia has launched the Welcoming Universities project as a first step in raising awareness of these challenges. Welcoming Universities aims to form a new coalition of accredited Australian universities committed to advancing inclusion and belonging for people who are often excluded from the tertiary sector, similar to its existing work with Welcoming Cities and Welcoming Clubs and inspired by the UK Universities of Sanctuary movement.
Welcoming Universities has welcomed the University of Melbourne as its first member. To strengthen interaction with affected communities, the effort relies on the University’s current connection with the City of Melbourne as well as regional collaborations in regions such as the Goulburn Valley.
Welcoming Universities aims to foster collaboration throughout Australia’s tertiary sector and the exchange of best practices in areas like leadership, recruitment and retention, social and cultural inclusiveness, teaching and learning, and community engagement.
By working together, Australia’s university sector will be in a better position to push for less discriminatory policies. When Australian colleges are requested to expand their student populations, it’s a good moment to think about the amazing resources that are literally on their doorstep. This is more than just a deficit model of colleges recognizing their obligations and attracting more people from varied backgrounds into their campuses; it is also an opportunity to recognize the diversity of knowledge and experiences that should be present in classes.
In this way, the pursuit of greater inclusivity is also an encouragement to reconsider the present curriculum and teaching in order to incorporate a larger spectrum of knowledge at the heart of the work. Furthermore, institutions must evaluate the communities of which they are a part, as well as the interactions between domestic and international students.
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