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Australia has seen a sharp drop in student immigration from India, says the Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese. He said that this is due to tougher student immigration requirements by the Australian government. He did not feel the reduction in student immigration is due to bad publicity following attacks on Indian students.
"There is a large reduction in the number of Indian students, but I caution you from linking it to attacks. This reduction was because of change in the immigration policies," said Australian high commissioner Peter Varghese.
He stated that Australia no longer allows overseas students taking non-degree courses to apply for permanent residence under General Skilled Migration.
According to Varghese, the decrease in Indian students could be as much as 80 percent compared to the previous year.
In the last couple of years, there has been some bad publicity about Indian students being attacked while studying in Australia; Some of the attacks have been described as being racially motivated.
After the incidents, there was a decline in student immigration. Some Indian students feel that it is safer to study elsewhere in the World.
