International students can return to South Australia as the state government has approved a plan to permit students’ entry into the country.
According to the plan, 160 students will arrive at a time and will have to stay for two weeks’ quarantine. The returning students will stay at Parafield Airport in the north of the city of Salisbury. The plan continues to use CBD medi-hotels for quarantining returning Australians.
Reports say the plan met all the Commonwealth protocols, hence why the state’s Chief Public Health Officer approved the plan to let international students return. Now, the plan needs to be approved by the federal government.
The government dropped a similar plan last year after the government faced a backlash due to the delay in the process to repatriate the Australian citizens.
Victorian plans to bring international students back
In April, Victoria had also proposed a plan similar to the model used in bringing tennis players for the Australian Open. As per the plan, the universities would consider bearing the cost of 1,000 international students flown into Melbourne. Moreover, the students will have quarantine arrangements similar to the two-week quarantine plans by the South Australian government.
However, Twitter users are sceptical about the plans. Some of the users have also called such plans a “#scollipop”. They are questioning the approval and actual execution of Victorian plans and other state plans to bring back international students.
Importance of international students to the state economy
A pause in international student arrivals has definitely a significant impact on universities and the state’s economy.
According to the reports, every three international students lead to one job creation in the state’s education, retail, hospitality, and tourism sector. Similarly, international education supported almost 20,000 jobs in 2019, which is a massive support to the state. Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed the value of South Australia’s international education sector to be AUS$2.2 billion in 2019.
Conclusion
Despite the plans, there is still uncertainty on how long students are likely to wait for the borders to re-open. However, the value of international education is undeniable. Therefore, states such as Victoria and South Australia has opted to make plans for international students.
