In a bid to improve the country's international education market, English language requirements are being tightened by the government of Australia for the foreign students.
As per the reports, currently in Australia, there are more than 5,50,000 international students and the education sector of the country is the third largest export earner.
Currently, international students are allowed to take an intensive course in the English which helps them to prepare for their further studies if they don’t have the qualifications which shows that they can study in the English language.
Now, such students will also require to take an official test of the language to prove their command on the language before they can study their university course.
“The vast majority of language courses are providing high-quality outcomes… but some slip through the cracks and it’s unacceptable for that to occur,” Education Minister Simon Birmingham.
As of now, no details have been provided by the government on the nature of the test or what the test will include, but Education Minister Simon Birmingham said that its standard will be enforced by the national education regulator.
He further said that this change will not hurt the international enrollments but instead will help in strengthening the integrity of the education system.
According to the figures from the education department, 16 percent of total international enrollments are for the pre-studies language course.
The top three nationalities are in pre-studies language course are:
- Chinese (27 per cent)
- Brazilian (12 per cent)
- Colombian (8.7 per cent)