Australia becoming first destination for higher education, says top official at Kochi event

Kochi: After touring three major Indian cities, the “Festival of Australia”, a first-of-its-kind initiative to enhance cultural and educational ties between the two countries, reached Kochi on Wednesday. 

Organised by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the one-day event brought together Australia’s top-quality institutions, universities, retail, and other trade partners on a single platform and showcased Australia’s premium food and beverage products to Indian consumers. Before Kochi, Austrade organised the festival in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

The Kochi showcase allowed Indian students and parents to engage directly with representatives from Australian universities and discuss course offerings. As a part of the showcase, the Indian students attended a masterclass on “Upskilling for Professional Impact through Human skills” presented by Renata Sguario, Founder and CEO, Maxme Australia. The 12 Australian varsities that participated in the programme include Central Queensland, Charles Sturt, Edith Cowan, Macquarie and Queensland University of Technology.

Monica Kennedy, Minister – Commercial and Head of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission in South Asia, said people looking for higher education abroad have started to see Australia as a first choice destination.

“In the past, Australia has been one of the options, and there have been traditional players for education destinations that got a lot of attention. But in the recent few years and certainly coming out of COVID I think Australia has been demonstrating everything it has to offer as an education system and we have really been very well funded in Australia to promote the education system. Under the National Education Policy, foreign universities have a lot more opportunity to establish partnerships with quality Indian institutions or international branch campuses,” she told Onmanorama.

Asked about the trend where students look at higher education abroad as a means of migration, she said; “Our education offer and our migration offer are separated, so we don't ever advertise the two together. We want students who want to come to Australia to study with us. We want them to come because we've got one of the best education systems in the world and we think that's enough of an offer. But at the same time, we do have opportunities for students, once they've finished their study, to stay on and work in their area of study when they graduate. And increasingly, students are recognising where Australia has real strengths and opportunities for them to develop employability skills as they study.”

The showcase also featured a panel discussion with senior representatives from Indian schools, Australian Universities and industry partners to understand what prospective students really want from a foreign university to decide to study abroad.

The Australian Food Pavilion, set up as part of the event, showcased Australia’s offerings, including honey, nutrition bars, sauces, cheese, pasta, seafood, and lamb meat.