Australian government announces $5m TNE fund to support TAFE expansion

After Australia imposed a cap on international student enrolment recently, now it launched a fund of $5m to help bring more technical and further education (TAFE) partnerships.

Study Abroad: Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has commenced its five-day visit to India. On the first day of her visit to New Delhi, she announced a new $5 million Yes to International Students Fund. The aim of the funding is to help the expansion of technical and further education (TAFE) and help Victorian universities.

This funding is expected to bring more partnerships similar to the latest collaboration between India’s BITS Pilani and RMIT University. This initiative will provide seed funding to Victorian universities and TAFEs so that these institutes will be able to offer dual programs through international alliances and start offshore campuses.

The latest announcement is significant after the international student's cap was announced in Australia. The Victorian government wants Australian education to expand its global footprint by establishing campuses outside.

“We say yes to international students because they boost our economy and our global reputation, they support our small businesses, and they keep our multicultural state connected with the world,” said Allan, as reported by Pie News.

“We say no to the federal government’s caps. Our new fund is going to help our unis and TAFEs find innovative ways to challenge them, and make our offering to international students even stronger," she added.

Victorian government continue to oppose cap on international students' enrolment

On the issue of cap on international students, Tim Pallas, Victoria’s minister for economic growth said, “We want to axe the caps, but we also want to bring something positive to the table that can grow our economy and keep us innovating.”

Victoria’s minister for skills and TAFE, Gayle Tierney said, “We back our universities and TAFEs to deliver world-class training, here and abroad and we absolutely stand by them against these damaging caps.”

Recently, the Australian government set the international student cap at 270,000. The university sector is expecting to be badly hit by this cap and there are layoffs, colleges and course closures are expected in future. Many universities released statements against this cap and expressed how badly it can affect their finances in the coming admission season when they were actually expecting more enrollments.

Read more:

• Study in Canada: Apply Now for UBC MasterCard Scholarship!
• Monash University, Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya ink MoU for Railway Engineering Research, Education