The Council of International Students Australia has welcomed the draft national strategy for international education, released by the Australian government this week saying it is “a positive step from the government”.
The strategy, which aims to keep Australia in the world’s top five education providers and promises two roundtable consultations with industry stakeholders, has been praised by CISA President, Thomson Ch’ng.
“We welcome the engagement opportunity from the department”
“We welcome the engagement opportunity from the department to ensure that the strategy is in fact addressing the right issues challenging international students in Australia at the moment, from a macro perspective,” he said in a statement.
However, speaking with The PIE News, Ch’ng said the first step to progress will be bridging gaps between international students, their domestic peers and the wider community.
“We think this is an important topic, and we have to look to discuss and come up with solutions to tackle that,” he said.
“This can be a solution to many other issues, because if there is integration between international students and a community, then a lot of issues can be prevented in the first place.”
CISA represents the international student community in Australia on a national level, and has previously been involved with policy submissions and reforms.
This included submitting evidence to the International Education Advisory Council in 2012, which resulted in the publication of a report entitled: “Australia – Educating Globally”.
Ch’ng, a Malaysian student, speaks at length with The PIE about advocacy initiatives in The PIE Chat.
