Education Sector Warns Of Impending Devaluation

For several years now in Australia, student visa holders have arrived here by the plane loads. This one is not that surprising considering that Australia has long since known as one of the best countries to study in. however, a lot of groups are worried that this might have a negative effect on the country's education system.

According to some concerned groups from the education sector, such a large influx of students into the country can actually lower the value of Australia's education. As it is, a large section of the the number of foreign students arriving in the country are actually taking up vocational courses instead of the higher degree ones.

Most often, as many immigration officials have pointed out, many of those getting vocational courses are doing so not for educational purposes, but for it to be a means of easy entry in the country. This is because even those graduating from low level courses are given a chance by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship to apply for permanent residency.

But as it turns out, this does have a negative effect. As it is, the large number of those taking vocational courses can shift the focus of the government into them. This, in turn, would likely draw away students from the universities and devalue them in the long run. They have also feared that such a case would likely to cause universities to be seen as nothing more than skills factories for foreign students.

In fact, the latter view was expressed by many university officials after the title of education was dropped from the Ministry of Jobs, Skills, and Work headed by Senator Chris Evans. According to them, such a drop might be indicative of the likely trend. However, the Gillard government was quick to clear out that the removal of the title was a mistake on their part and promptly corrected the matter.

However, this is just a small part of the matter regarding the current value of education. As it is, there have been several proposals in both houses of the parliament to grant Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions the power to hand out bachelor's and other higher education degrees. Observers said that such a move will put them at par with universities. But university officials have countered the move, saying that this will cause a significant decrease in the quality of tertiary education in the country.

As it, the government has yet to come up with the final verdict on the proposals. However, people from the education sector are clamoring them to quickly settle the matter in order for the education industry to proceed with its development.