300 International Students to Return to Australia Next Month Under National Pilot Program

Here is how it will work.

International students rejoice, because the Federal Government has announced a new pilot program to allow hundreds of overseas students to return to university in South Australia in September.

The Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the program will consist of 300 students from South East Asia and will be used to test whether international students returning to Australia could be managed during the coronavirus pandemic.

As you guessed, just like all travelers right now, all students will undertake a mandatory supervised quarantine on arrival, with universities agreeing to pay for the hotel quarantine of arriving students.

This comes after a similar program in July where 350 International students were set to return to the ACT, but the program was scrapped after the second wave of coronavirus hit Victoria.

While this sounds like good news for students and universities, some people online are wondering if the program is plausible during the pandemic.

Well SA is setting up a pilot program to let International students back in. Well done SA! https://t.co/Z5D1Xboyqw

— DJdex (@d_jdex) August 16, 2020

International students coming back to Australia in September according to the AG. I think that's wishful thinking.

— 💧Dead Parrot Society (@MyFirstCousin) August 17, 2020

The pandemic has hit the university sector hard with many international students having to return home and border restrictions seriously limiting the number of new students arriving.

International students are imperative to the Australian economy and the stability of the university sector. Overseas students bring approximately $39 billion per year into the national economy but the impacts of coronavirus caused overseas student visa applications to drop more than 30 per cent.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall expressed the valuable contribution that international students also provide to the community and our national multiculturalism.

While this is great news for new students wanting to study and work in Australia, this still doesn’t provide a clear strategy for international students who are stuck overseas.

There are however some concerns among Australians stuck overseas who fear that the program will overload the quarantine system and cause already expensive flight costs to rise even further.

1000's Australians can't get home because of onerous flight caps which restrict daily arrivals, yet 300 China, HK and Japan overseas students to arrive Adelaide via Singapore in a test case. Will government lift caps? @Birmo

— Jacquelin Magnay (@jacquelinmagnay) August 16, 2020

Senator Birmingham has said that he is confident South Australia will have no issue accommodating the new students.

The pandemic has also put a strain on international students who chose to stay in Australia with many now stating they would not return or recommend others come to Australia to study.

I hope those 300 international students who are thinking of going to Australia to study read this. Not only has @ausgov treated its own citizens abroad appallingly, but they have also treated the international students who stayed appallingly. It's just shameful, @ScottMorrisonMP. https://t.co/8pTyB1VQAO

— AdventureAli (@adventure_ali_) August 16, 2020

This is wrong. International students in Australia are being forced into poverty, and left to go hungry. @ScottMorrisonMP what if students cannot go home? Is this really the way we treat visitors to Australia? Appalling. https://t.co/nY5AlatBGR

— Greg Dingle (@GregDingle3) August 17, 2020

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