Australia becoming more popular among Indian students”

IDP Education Australia organised the programme. At a press briefing, Lyndon Joseph, manager of IDP Education Australia in Chennai, said there had been a significant growth of Indian student enrolment in Australian educational institutions. This is not only because of the quality of the education available there, but also because of the ease with which students can later obtain residency and work permits.

IDP has seen a significant growth in student intake from Chennai alone, and currently there are more than 42,000 Indian students studying in Australia. Last year, 23 per cent of the international student market for Australian was made up of Indian students, he said.

According to the organisers, the event, conducted bi-annually, is different from other educational fairs and exhibitions, because students are pre-screened for eligibility and spot interviews are conducted.

“If the students are found to be eligible, they are also immediately provided with offer letters, thereby saving the students the entire application process and fee. This year 600 students registered, normally up to 80 per cent of those who register get spot admissions.” Mr. Joseph said.

He said that another reason why Australia was becoming more popular was the availability of scholarships. “Earlier it was only for research, now there are scholarships available for post-graduate studies as well. The scholarships can be anywhere between 100 and 20 per cent on tuition fees.” Mr Joseph added that the subject market too was changing.

Although the usual favourites, information technology and engineering are still popular, business and biotech programmes are also gaining in popularity.

Similar events have been conducted across the country for admissions for the academic year beginning February 2008. The first was held in Delhi at the beginning of this month and Chennai is the sixth city in which the event is being held.

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