28 April 2011
Part I – General summary
This month we have tracked 383 news items. Among them, 95 reports concerned the Australian student visa changes, 132 were general news items about study in Australia and 156 were items about our competitors.
We have also closely monitored the extensive reporting on the student visa changes in the UK and we are preparing a separate report on this.
Part II – Brief summary re each key issue
Australia
This month we continued to pay close attention to media reports on the Australian student visa policy changes and have tracked 95 relevant reports. With the student visa changes taking effect from 2 April 2011, education agents saw the upcoming changes as an opportunity to focus on studying in Australia and as a result, media attention has shifted back on this topic.
Many experts and education agents consider the student visa policy change is a positive signal, which indicates that the Australian Government attaches great importance to the China market and will attract more students to study in Australia, so they are expecting a rebound of the market of study in Australia in 2011.
However, a few of the media outlets commented that there were still other factors at play, such as the appreciation of Australian dollar and the rise of educational institutions’ tuition fees. Moreover, the tightened migration policy may still be a factor in students and parents not viewing Australia as good study destination. The above factors may offset the positive influence the student visa policy changes can bring. Facing a changing situation, some experts suggested that the students make overseas study plan tailored to their individual circumstances. Some links to media reports are as below:
Media outlets continued to focus on the Skilled Occupational List (SOL), which was reported to be updated again in May and will come into effect in July along with a new points test. Education and migration agents have made a few of assumptions on the new SOL, for example, accounting and engineering will stay on the list, and the updated SOL will not be changed very much. In addition to reporting the new SOL, media outlets also showed concerns over the future of Chinese students studying in Australia in their reports, as the changed SOL will induce many of the students change courses or give up migration plan and leave Australia. We will keep on tracking the news related to SOL. Two links to media reports is as below:
In February 2011 the Australian Research Council (ARC) published the ratings of the research capacity of all the Australian universities in 2010. This was reported by dozens of media and reprinted on over 400 education agents’ websites and micro-blogs in March, for it was deemed as the first ever authoritative ranking of Australian universities and a comprehensive guide on selecting Australian universities for students. A link to media report is as below:
The Minister-Counsellor, Education, Mr Iain Watt, was interviewed by one of China’s mainstream web media outlets “People.com.cn” on 29 March 2011. He answered a number of questions of Chinese students’ greatest concerns, such as the student visa policy changes, number of student visa applications and grants for Chinese students in 2010, the ongoing Student Visa Program Review as well as the Australian Government’s protection framework and services for the international students, especially on the occasion of college closures. The interview video was put on the website of People.com.cn and the full-text of the Q&A at the interview was either reprinted or quoted by many other media outlets. A link to the media report is as below:
The negative reports on Australia are mainly associated with the situation of, and concerns over the international students in Australia. One of the reports is about the outcomes of research supported by ARC, which indicates the English language skills of many international students are not sufficient and some Australian universities even cover up or ignore the poor academic performance of international students. The other report is about a corruption case at Curtin University of Technology. According to the report, a staff in the university took bribes and illegally revised IELTS test results for some 25 examinees. Most of the Chinese media reports on this issue are factual reports, while one media outlet “Nanfang Daily” analysed the reason for this issue and attributed the issue partially to the raised migration requirements on the English language skills. Some links to media reports are as below:
MoE published the number of Chinese students studying abroad in 2010
On 2 March 2011 the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) published a series of numbers on the Chinese students studying abroad in 2010. The publication was reprinted or quoted by many media outlets and education agents. Through googling the internet, we found over 300 searching results on this topic. In 2010 the number of the outgoing Chinese students reached 284 700, among which the overwhelming majority is self-financed students. Both the numbers of outgoing and returned students increased compared with 2009, respectively by 50 000 and 26 000. Meanwhile, over 260 000 international students studied in China last year, with Asian students accounting for 66,32 per cent.
As interpreted by the MoE officials, the figures have indicated the overseas study market continues to increase and the growth will persist, since China has become the world's largest source country for overseas study. In some of the media outlets' reports, experts showed their concerns over the healthy development of the overseas study market. Students and parents were advised to put safety first and make rational choices. Some links to media reports are as below:
The 16th China International Education Exhibition Tour, 11–27 March 2011
Australian pavilions were present at the 16th China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET), which was held in seven first and second tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Dalian, Nanjing and Wuhan, on 11–27 March 2011. More than 400 institutions from over 30 countries and regions, participated in the exhibition tour.
With over 15 mainstream media outlets as media supporters, the 16th CIEET has been found in over 500 searching results through googling the internet. Media reports on this event mainly focus on the following topics: number, quality and reputation of the institutions from each participating country; the latest policies and statistics released by different countries on study abroad and student visas; and advice provided by embassies, education agents and education institutions for the students preparing to study abroad.
Austrade, as Australian Government’s main official representative responsible for promoting study in Australia since July 2010, was present at the exhibition along with some other 20 Australian education institutions, covering schools, VET colleges and universities. Australian pavilion design was fancy and attractive, with its promotional branding “Unlimited Australia” at prominent places. The Hon Justine Elliot MP, Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary for Trade, attended the exhibition in Beijing and participated in media interviews at the Australian pavilion, which was interpreted by the media outlets as Australian Government highly valuing the China market and showing it is welcoming to Chinese students.
In addition to factual reports on the exhibition, media outlets were keen to analyze or predict the trend of the overseas study market in 2011; for example, some predicted that the US would become more popular with Chinese students, the increasing tendency of students going to the UK would slow down and the number of students studying in Australia might rebound in 2011. Some links to media reports are as below:
Safety issue and MoE, MFA notice
On 14 March 2011 the MoE released the first overseas study alert in 2011, advising the students who plan to study in Japan, to access up to date information and choose reliable overseas study programs in Japan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also put a few notices on its website, reminding Chinese people overseas pay attention to safety after the earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan on 11 March and the New Zealand earthquake in February.
Recently, safe overseas study has become a popular topic reflected through media reports. Media outlets highlighted more safety issues in their reports this month and provided tips to international students on the protection of life and property safety. Meanwhile, media outlets concentrated on how the local governments provide assistance to foreigners, including international students, after the disasters.
Competitors
This month, we have tracked 156 media reports about our competitors, with 78 relating to the UK, 28 on the US, 22 on New Zealand, 18 on Canada and 10 about other overseas study destinations. The summarized translation of media reports are below.
The United Kingdom:
On 22 March 2011 the UK announced a series of changes on foreign student visas, involving the implementation of sponsored accreditation for institutions, toughening up entry requirements, a decrease in international students work entitlements and limiting the time foreign students can spend in the UK. Mainstream media outlets reported the student visa changes intensively and many of them incorporated detailed interpretations as well as comments of experts and education agents into the reports. We have tracked over 40 news items on this topic and over one hundred reprints on agents’ websites, micro-blogs or bbs.
Positive interpretation and comments on the policy changes are as below:
- The policy changes indicate that the UK maintains its attitude of encouraging international to study in the UK;
- The UK is determined to improve the quality of its institutions, especially the private institutions, and the qualifications delivered by those institutions will be more valuable;
Negative comments include the following:
- Number of international students in the UK will be reduced by ten thousand in the future, or in other words, cut by one fourth. Consequently, income of universities will drop sharply and the UK’s international education industry, bringing 5,000 million pounds revenue for the UK every year, will be damaged deeply.
- Private institutions will have difficulty in recruiting students.
- The cancellation of Post–Study–Work (PSW) visa will affect Chinese students most compared with the rest of changes, as they will not be able to easily gain work experience in the UK after graduation.
- International students’ contribution to the UK’s economy and multicultural society has been ignored.
Some other experts or education agents consider the policy changes will not affect Chinese students very much in terms of the restrictions against students applying for below degree courses or private institutions, as most of Chinese students go to the UK to pursue higher education degrees, especially master’s degrees. Besides, many Chinese students will not choose to stay in the UK after graduation, since it has been hard to find a job even before the policy changes. Some links to media reports are as below:
As the UK’s student visa changes had very high exposure to media and public attention, we will prepare an exclusive media monitoring report on this issue.
Apart from the report that the number of Chinese students studying in the UK reached the highest point in 2010, most of other reports on the UK highlighted by media outlets are negative, such as the increased visa application fees, tuition fee and living cost. Some links to media reports are below:
The United States:
With the US getting more and more popular among Chinese students, media outlets concentrated on general and positive reports mainly, for example, they were keen to introduce more about the US education institutions and scholarships programs to Chinese students, or provide tips on selecting institutions and applying for visas to Chinese students. Some media interpreted the increasing number of Chinese students in the US as a win-win situation, which brings benefits to both Chinese students and the US institutions.
Times World University Rankings were released in early March 2011. The US universities account for 45 per cent of the top 100 universities and 70 per cent of the top 10 on the ranking list, which attracts a lot of media outlets’ focus. In comparison, 12 are from the UK, 5 from Japan and 4 from Australia and Canada.
Another positive signal attracting media outlets attention is that the US President Obama recently announced that the US government would increase graduation rates in universities. The government will take a series of measures, such as stabilizing tuition fee, facilitating credit transfer and encouraging cooperation and exchange among universities. Many media outlets and education agents reprinted this report and predicted that study in the US will be further heated up.
Some links to media reports are as below:
Media reports on the negative side of study in the US showed a concern over the education quality of the US providers and the prospects of Chinese students after graduation. Many media outlets reported the US Senators jointly appealed to the US government to improve the regulation against some private universities, being suspicious of “diploma mills”. Due to the domestic economic environment in the US, many Chinese students have to return to China rather than gaining work experience after graduation in US. Some links to media reports are as below:
New Zealand:
Since the earthquake in February 2011, the New Zealand Government has taken a series of measures to facilitate affected international students being able to change, renew and apply for student visas. Media outlets predicted that the international education industry of New Zealand will be frustrated, since many international students have decided to leave New Zealand owing to safety concerns. Media outlets have also noticed that many international students have shifted their destination from the South Island to the North Island of New Zealand.
Early in this month, media outlets reported two pieces of positive news about New Zealand. One is that the New Zealand government published the outcomes of research showing that over one third of international students were successfully employed in New Zealand after graduation. The other is New Zealand will grant 300 more Working Holiday Visa to Chinese applicants after 12 April 2011. Many education and migration agencies reprinted or quoted the above two reports on their websites in order to promote study in or migrate to New Zealand. Some links to media reports are as below:
Canada:
This month media outlets were keen to relate the study in Canada and subsequent migration prospects in their reports. Migration policies of different provinces in Canada were introduced in the reports and were reported as being beneficial to international students. Some education agents interpreted that the Canadian government encourages international students to apply for migration after graduation and this also a reason for the increasing number of Chinese students studying in Canada in recent years. Some links to media reports are as below: