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Mainland numbers up sharply as HK turns back on Australia

Hong Kong students are turning away in droves from studying in Australia whereas the number of mainlanders seeking places there continues to increase sharply.

Latest figures from the Australian Immigration Department show that the number of student visas issued to people in Hong Kong fell by almost 8 per cent last year compared with 2003.

Overall enrolments of Hong Kong students in Australian education institutions dropped by 4 per cent but the number of new students arriving from Hong Kong - an indicator of the trend - plummeted by 14 per cent.

In 2002, 27,000 Hong Kong students were undertaking courses with Australian universities. In the first semester last year, the number was down to 24,000 and falling.

Ivy Ngan, director of Australian Education Centre of the Consulate-General of Australia in Hong Kong, said the drop was mainly because there were more options for further studies available in Hong Kong.

'More Australian university and post-secondary institutions are co-organising top-up degree or diploma programmes with local institutions here which attract some students who intended to study in Australia,' she said. 'There is also a growing number of associate degree or diploma programmes available in Hong Kong.'

She also said the strength of the Australian dollar was putting off Hong Kong students. 'Tuition fees for 2003-04 academic year have also increased,' she said. 'Studying in Australia is not as cheap as before.'

Declines also occurred in other traditional source countries such as Indonesia, where new student numbers fell by 16 per cent, Singapore (12 per cent) and Malaysia (10 per cent). The slump in applications from these countries, along with a sharp reduction in international student market share, has had a drastic impact on the universities' main recruiting agency, IDP Education.

Facing its third loss-making year, the university-owned company began laying off staff in December and closed seven of its offices in countries with high servicing costs. IDP offices in Britain, Brazil, Brunei, Columbia, Mexico, South Africa and Sweden were shut while its American operations were closed down in October and all staff in Washington sacked.

More than 180,000 foreign students were enrolled in Australia's universities last year and their fees generated A$1.5 billion ($8.85 billion) - the largest source of private revenue for the institutions.

The drop in applications has already begun to affect some universities. Melbourne's RMIT has announced that an expected A$14 million surplus for last year had turned into a A$30 million shortfall.

A recent global study by IDP of the comparative costs of higher education among the main English-speaking nations found Australia was second only to Britain in its high cost of living. Recent increases in the value of the Australian dollar have made it even more expensive.

Australia will have to work harder to capitalise on the global demand for international education, particularly from Asia, the study found.

It said foreign students were now 'more savvy' thanks to the wide range of information available from different sources, including agents, exhibitions, the internet and governments promoting international education.

The situation for Australian universities would have been worse had there not been the increasing demand from mainland students. Visas issued last year increased by 23 per cent and new student enrolments were up by 15 per cent.

In 2002, 19,600 mainland students were studying with Australian universities whereas two years later the number had almost reached 29,000 - a startling 45 per cent jump.

Additional reporting by Winnie Yeung

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