Stakeholders presenting at an industry webinar organised by Study NSW indicated that more structured assistance might help students have a better experience in Australia.
Based on the International Student Sentiment Survey, shared during the seminar by Edified, a specialist education consultancy, indicated that Australia appears to have suffered some reputation damage as a study abroad destination since July 2020, according to Lyndell Jacka, insights director at the company.
During her presentation of the survey findings, Jacka emphasised that support services that recognise and meet the requirements of foreign students even during global epidemic go out a long way toward improving educational experiences.
In the poll, which included a varied group of foreign students and was conducted over the previous three quarters, student opinion was more or less comparable for the state of New South Wales as compared to other jurisdictions in Australia.
Despite the fact that some students were dissatisfied with Australia’s higher education offerings during the pandemic, the majority (72 percent) of international students in NSW who participated in the survey indicated that they would prefer to finish their education in Australia rather than move to another country.
According to studies, this was mostly due to the perceived high level of education and lifestyle in the country
There’s an increasing number of those who believe it’s becoming worse, particularly a rise in those who presently feel – back in March – that they’re feeling extremely negative, with students from India and China feeling this way the most.
During the pandemic, students in NSW also reported problems with mental and emotional well-being, financial stress, and uncertainty about future graduate possibilities as key issues.
The executive team at Study NSW provided a thorough summary of the several efforts launched by the state to assist onshore foreign students throughout the epidemic.
The COVID-19 Help Hub; the COVID-19 Disaster Payment; the NSW Extreme Hardship Payment for Temporary Visa Holders (in collaboration with the Australian Red Cross); Food Hampers for International Students; the International Students Intake Support Service (a multilingual support service providing help in a variety of areas); the International Student Health Hub; and the International Student Legal Service NS are among the projects.
The NSW government has offered $360k in funding for mental health and wellness programmes.
This program will encourage students to study in Australia as they are supporting their international students in every manner whether it is financial or moral support.