Australian universities’ financial dependence on foreign students has been highlighted by the ban on Chinese national students over the coronavirus outbreak.
In fact the tertiary education sector, paid billions of dollars in Government subsidies each year to supposedly educate young Australians, is in so many respects now an international education provider.
This follows revelations that our 10 leading universities alone face losses of more than $1bn in fees from nearly 66,000 Chinese students stranded in China by the Morrison government’s coronavirus travel ban and unable to attend this year’s first semester.
Estimates have revealed that more than 60 per cent of an estimated 109,000 Chinese students enrolled in first-semester courses at these universities are still in China.
With more than 100,000 Chinse students at our major universities, one could argue that this is a problem of their own making.
The Australian National University with about 4000 of its estimated 5000 Chinese students still in China is seeking to overcome this dilemma by offering free online courses for those affected by the ban.
In effect, this crisis has shown how our universities and regulators have developed a thoughtless dependence on Chinese students with little consideration as to the down-sides of such an arrangement.
An economic analysis from the free-market Centre for Independent Studies has suggested that the overall impact to our economy from lost exports may be as high as $12bn.
The study concluded that more than 40 per cent of education exports to China — worth $12.1bn last year — could evaporate, even if the coronavirus epidemic is contained by June.
Of more immediate concern to Australian arthritis are the evacuation of about 170 Australians on the increasingly-desperate passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined off Yokohama, Japan. They are scheduled to board a Qantas flight today before being transferred for a 14 day quarantine at Darwin’s Howard Springs facility.
The number of infected Australians on the cruise ship has again risen with 36 cases; those Australians infected with the virus will be treated in Japanese hospitals instead of returning home while about 20 more passengers were reported to have refused the Australian evacuation offer.
The virus outbreak, which emerged in Wuhan province in early January, has resulted in more than 1800 deaths and infected more than 73,000. In Australia, the number of infections is still 15.Scott Morrison extended a China travel ban by one week last week, as the government assesses the economic damage of the virus. Experts warn the economy could contract in the March quarter.
